YOURSELF AND 

M3URH0USE WONDERFUL 



■* 






Work for the Stomach Dwarf 



YOURSELF 

AND 

YOUR HOUSE WONDERFUL 



BY 

H. A; Gl 



GUERBER 



This book '* published and sold exclusively in the United States 
and Canada by 

THE UPLIFT PUBLISHING COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA. PA. 



tf 






Copyright 19 13 
Uplift Publishing Company 



Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. 

Protected by International copyright in Great Britain and all her 
colonies, and, under the provisions of the Berne Convention, in 
Belgium, France, Germany, England, Spain, Switzerland, Tunis, 
Hayti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro and Norway. 



Copyright 1902 
Dodd, Mead & Co. 



All rights reserved. 



ft 



$ 



©CI.A346671 



Dedicated 

to 

All Children 

with many hopes that this book will help to 

make them strong and happy. 



Books by the Same Author 



Myths of Greece and Rome. 

Myths of Northern Lands. 

Legends of the Middle Ages. 

Story of the Chosen People. (History of the Jews.) 

Story of the Greeks. 

Story of the Romans. 

Story of the English. 

Story of the Thirteen Colonies. (History of the U. S.) 

Story of the Great Republic. (History of the U. S.) 

Story of Old France. (History of France.) 

Story of Modern France. (History of France.) 

Contes et Legendes. I. (French Reader.) 

Contes et Legendes. II. (French Reader.) 

Easy French Prose Composition. 

Joan of Arc; French Composition. 

Marchen und Erzahlungen. 1. (German Reader.) 
Marchen und Erzahlungen. II. (German Reader.) 
Moni der Geisbub by Spyri; annotated. 
La Main Malheureuse; annotated. 
Marie Louise et le due de Reichstadt. 
Cupid and Psyche. (French Composition.) 
Prisoners of the Temple. (French Composition.) 

Stories of the Wagner Operas. 
Stories of Famous Operas. 
Stories of Popular Operas. 
The Empresses of France. 
Legends of the Virgin and Christ. 
Legends of Switzerland. 
How to Prepare for Europe. 
Stories of Shakespeare's Comedies. 
Stories of Shakespeare's Tragedies. 
Stories of Shakespeare's History Plays. 

Legends of the Rhine. 
The World's Epics. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

I. Your Own Little House 1 

II. What Goes Into Your House 11 

III. Where Food Goes 30 

IV. Things You Should Know 40 

V. Your Twin Pumping Dwarfs 58 

VI. How to Air Your House 72 

VII. The Framework of Your House 97 

VIII. Your Pulleys and Ropes 110 

IX. The Outside of Your House 1 34 

X. Being Careful for the Sake of Others 151 

XI. Your Central Office and Its Stores 164 

XII. How to Train Body and Mind 1 78 

XIII. Good and Bad Drinking Habits 196 

XIV. About Smoking and Chewing 223 

XV. Plant, Fish, Bird and Animal Babies 237 

XVI. How You Came Here 260 

XVII. How You Can Grow Rightly 277 

XVIII. Your Companions 292 



INTRODUCTION 

To Parents and Teachers: — 

In conversing with earnest parents and enlightened teachers, 
who confide to me many of the problems which daily confront 
them, I have become more and more convinced of the pressing 
need of a work dealing frankly and explicitly with all matters 
pertaining to the physical, mental and moral well-being of our 
children. A book, treating not only of all the matters usually 
discussed, but also of excretion, sex, and reproduction, topics to 
which most books merely allude, which good people approach 
in fear and trembling, and about which none but the impure 
speak freely at all times and refuse to be silenced. 

Our children have the right to know the exact truth about 
themselves. Were it possible and safe to leave them entirely 
ignorant and untrammeled concerning their origin, and all sex- 
ual matters, until adult years and mature understanding made 
full enlightenment expedient, I would gladly advocate com- 
plete silence. But such a mode of procedure has become im- 
possible nowadays, unless we remove to desert islands. 
Whether parents and guardians are aware of the fact or not, 
the only alternative now left, if we do not wish to have our off- 
spring at least mentally contaminated, is to impart ourselves, 
1 



ii Introduction 

purely and reverently, all they need know. If we keep silence, 
through ignorance, false modesty, mistaken kindness, or innate 
inability to instil our knowledge of hygiene or morals, we are 
cheating the children confided to our care of their unalienable 
right "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 

The difficulties of broaching certain subjects, are, I concede, 
considerable, but they are not insurmountable, as parents will 
see if they will carefully peruse this volume, which contains all 
that can help and will fully satisfy normal children. Pure- 
minded children desire to learn these matters in a pure and open 
way, and the mode of presentation here used, instead of harm- 
ing even the prurient minded, will only serve to check their pro- 
pensity to spread abroad such knowledge as they possess, by 
showing them how such matters are viewed by all decent peo- 
ple. Besides, it will supply the innocent with what they now 
lack, L e., a means of self-defense against insidious mental, if 
not moral and physical contamination. 

There is, of course, much in this volume which all carefully 

brought up children already know, and nothing which they 

should not know, or which can shock any person who does not 

wantonly read into it more, or something else than it is intended 
to convey. 

The last census stated there were in the United States more 

than twenty-four million children between the ages of five and 

seventeen, many of whom are less favored by fortune than 

yours. Educational statistics inform us that three quarters of 



Introduction iii 

the pupils who enter our public schools, leave at twelve or thir- 
teen, and never receive further instruction of any kind. To fit 
such children— many of whom are worse than orphans as far as 
home training is concerned — to become useful citizens, and in 
due time self-respecting and capable fathers and mothers, is 
one of the main tasks set before us. 

The schools have long realized that physiology and hygiene, 
once taught in the higher grades only, are indispensable at every 
stage. While from an adult's point of view there are now many 
admirable text-books on the subject, my attention was only 
comparatively recently called to the fact, that, from a child's 
standpoint, there is no work vivid, detailed or practical enough, 
to make so lively an impression that its teachings will ever after 
form part of the daily life of the recipient, and rise spectre-like 
whenever he or she is confronted by the temptation to violate 
any of the fundamental laws of health or morality. 

As it is unsafe to postpone such instruction too long, this vol- 
ume, designed for children under twelve, is couched in lan- 
guage of extreme simplicity, a very small vocabulary and short 
sentences being purposely used, so that they can read it under- 
standing^ themselves, and so that it will be perfectly intelligi- 
ble even to parents of foreign extraction. A certain amount of 
space has been devoted to the care and training of babies, be- 
cause many older children are constantly called upon to play 
the part of nurse-maid to their younger brothers and sisters. 

Lacking the unsavory data which most adults have involun- 






iv Introduction 

tarily collected in the course of the old-fashioned, long and 
round-about methods of acquiring divine truths, most children 
under twelve can and will see nothing more in this matter than 
what is told them here, provided they first hear the truth in all 
its beauty and simplicity. 

A sufficiently detailed explanation is vouchsafed, to make 
them realize the sacredness and privacy of the whole subject, 
so no one need fear embarrassing questions or comments, and 
the knowledge cannot but act as a safeguard at all times and in 
all places. Besides, it will certainly put an end to further dis- 
cussion of the subject with their companions among all those 
who are not already hopelessly perverted. The fact that such 
discussions are rife everywhere, and that the need of the in- 
struction given in this book is widely felt, is not only proved by 
hosts of passages in many of the leading works on pedagogy, 
but was further emphasized in President Roosevelt's first mes- 
sage, wherein we find the statement: "The most vital problem 
with which this country, and for that matter, the whole civil- 
ized world has to deal .... is the betterment of social 
conditions, physical and moral, in large cities.'* 

To effect permanent reform in these matters, it is not only 
necessary that each parent should take the matter to heart, and 
act as leaven in his or her own community, but it is also and 
especially incumbent upon us all to instil right views and prin- 
ciples in the children confided to our care, for they, a few years 



Introduction v 

hence, will be at the head of all our municipal and govern- 
mental affairs. 

This volume can be used without any restrictions whatever in 
the homes, and in schools where boys or girls are under teachers 
of their own sex. Still, most teachers are so thoroughly im- 
bued with the desire to further the real welfare of their pupils, 
that none of the more enlightened women will object to read this 
book to young children of either sex, provided male principals 
have the sense and tact to know when to keep the class rooms 
uninvaded by visitors and to refrain from intruding, themselves. 

My experience is that to most young children "all things are 
pure," and that one feels properly rebuked for all hesitation by 
the beautifully simple and matter-of-course way in which such 
information is received. Still, if the book is used in large or 
mixed classes, where teachers, often by intangible means, only, 
become aware of the presence of some vicious element, it may 
be well to set aside certain chapters for silent perusal, for home 
study, or for written recitation. A little tact and common 
sense is all that is required. 

The perusal of this volume will certainly make a parent's or 
teacher's task much easier in matters which it is often difficult 
to check, or report, and public opinion among the children them- 
selves will do more to enforce cleanliness and decent behavior, 
than any number of rules or the utmost vigilance on the part of 
parents and teachers. 

Skilled teachers know that only through frequent repetition 



vi Introduction 

lessons can be firmly implanted in youthful minds, and there- 
fore resort to various devices to make reviews interesting. Pa- 
rents reading this book aloud to their offspring will find the 
questions at the end of each chapter a help to fix the main points 
in childish memories, while teaching them to express themselves 
clearly. Extra zest can be added to repeated readings by an- 
nouncing — as if it were some special privilege — that the first 
reading and questioning will be for the eldest only, but that 
the other children may listen if they choose. After a sufficient 
interval of time has elapsed to restore some of the glamour of 
novelty to the book, it can be re-read, ostensibly for the benefit 
of the second child, whose answers the eldest can correct or 
supplement when they are wrong or incomplete. With several 
children in the family this device answers every purpose, but 
with one olive-branch only, the reader can make a sort of game 
of it, arranging that reader and listener try at the end of each 
section to puzzle each other by asking alternate questions on the 
text. 

This book has been submitted to the rigid criticism of several 
family physicians, as well as to parents and teachers of experi- 
ence. The writer is deeply indebted to these critics and to 
many others consulted, for pertinent hints, and for help and en- 
couragement. A few of the verbal illustrations used, have 
been drawn from the "Self and Sex" series and from the many 
volumes on physiology, hygiene, psychology and pedagogy 



Introduction vii 

studied with a view to present the subject in as broad, yet prac- 
tical a light as possible. 

As children are no more born with a sense for morality than 
with knowledge of geography and arithmetic, they must be 
taught what to do and how to do it. Earnest parents and teach- 
ers all over the world are realizing keenly that ignorance is not 
bliss, and that innocence and ignorance are not synonymous 
terms. This book is designed to serve as a manual for all those 
who are anxious to equip children to lead healthy, useful and 
noble lives. 



YOURSELF 



CHAPTER I 
Your Own Little House 




You Are Something Like a Snail 

DID you ever think that you were something like a snail? 
Yes; you are, because you too live in a little house, 
which goes with you everywhere, from the moment 
you are born until you die. 

This house is your body. It belongs to you, and you can 
1 



2 Yourself 

make it good, useful and pleasant to look at, or you can spoil 
it by lack of proper care, and thus make it ugly and unpleasant, 
besides making yourself very uncomfortable indeed. 

As long as you were a little baby, your mother, or some 
older person took charge of this little house for you, but as 
soon as you began to walk and run about, you had to begin to 
look after it yourself. At first, nearly all you had to do was 
not to bump it against the tables and chairs, but every day you 
had a little more to do for it, until now you can take care of it 
for hours at a time when you are away from home or out at 
play. 

Of course, your mother still watches over you part of the 
time, and tells you what to wear and what to eat. Mothers 
know that as long as you live you will have to stay in the same 
little house, whether it is nice and comfortable or not, for one 
cannot move out of one's body into a new one, as into a new 
house. So, mothers do their best to make their children's 
houses as good and comfortable as they can. 

It is just because you cannot change bodies, that it is so im- 
portant that your body, or house, should receive the very best 
care. Many children have wise mothers, who watch over them 
so they cannot do much harm to these little houses even if they 
try; but even the wisest mother cannot always be near you, and 
therefore it is right that you should learn to help her, instead of 
hindering her as I have seen so many children do. 

When you are out at play, you have to take care of your 



The Building Materials 



little house yourself, and every child who is not an idiot, can 
and should learn to do it well. Sensible children can, of 
course, always be trusted to do what they know to be right, 
even if mother is not there to see that they do it. And, each 
year, as they grow older, they can learn to take better care of 
the house which God has 
given them. 

It is because you have to 
look after your own house, 
or to live to be very sorry be- 
cause you did not do so, that I 
am going to tell you many 
things about it. There may 
even be some things which 
mother does not yet know, for 
wise men are always finding 
out something new and won- 
derful about these houses we 
live in, and I have read many 
of their books so that I could 
tell you all you need know at 
present about them. 




Mother Watches Over You 



The Building Materials 

The body is very different from the houses we build out of 
wood, stone and brick. Those stay where they are put, and are 



4 Yourself 

always about the same. But our bodies live, grow, and move 
about as we wish, and keep changing night and day as long as 
we are in them. You know that all houses look something 
alike; that is to say, they all have walls, roofs, windows, doors, 
etc. Our bodies, too, all look somewhat alike, for we all have 




A Neat House 



a head, a trunk, legs and arms, with eyes, ears, mouth, nose, 
and too many other things to mention. 

All the houses you see are made of wood, stone, brick, mud, 
or iron, and when the builder does his work well, he makes 
good and pretty places to live in out of just these materials. If 



The Building Materials 5 

you want a house, it is, therefore, best to choose a man who 
knows how to build it properly, for he will make the best use of 
the materials you give him. 

Wood, stone, brick, mud, and iron, change so very little, that 
a house once built, remains much the same for many years. But 
even a good strong house has to be kept clean, and nicely painted 
inside and out. Besides, new nails, boards, pipes, and plaster 
are needed from time to time, if the whole place is to be kept 
neat and in good repair. 

Now, no sensible person ever dreams of using any but the 
right materials to build or repair a real house. If a window is 
broken, you get a new pane of glass; if a pipe is broken you 
mend it or get a new one, and if the house is dingy, you put a 
fresh coat of paint upon it. 

If anyone were foolish enough to put a silk handkerchief 
instead of the pane of glass, to stuff cake or candy into a pipe 
hole to stop a leak, or to smear the house all over with molasses 
or butter instead of paint, you would laugh and think it a very 
silly way to act, would you not? 

Our bodies are built too, not of brick, wood, stone, or iron, 
but of blood, which makes muscle, bone, nerves, etc. These, 
each house-owner has to make for his own use, out of food, 
water, and air. Since you have to make your own blood, bone, 
muscle and nerves, it is right for you to know how you can best 
do so, for there is good and bad blood, as well as good and bad 
bones, muscles and nerves; and whether all these are good or 



6 Yourself 

bad depends mostly on the blood-maker and on the kind of ma- 
terial he uses. 

You admire good, strong and handsome men and women, 
and wish to grow up as tall, straight and good-looking as possi- 
ble, do you not ? Well, all this depends in a great measure upon 
yourselves, and if you will read carefully what this book says, 
and if you will do exactly what it tells you, it is very sure you 
will grow up far stronger and handsomer, than if you pay no 
attention whatever to the matters it teaches. 

Unlike a house built by hands, the body, as I have already 
said, keeps changing all the time. That is because we are 
alive. Every breath we draw and every mouthful we eat or 
drink, works some change in our body. 

If the air and water are pure and good, and if the food we eat 
contains the right materials to make good blood, to keep all the 
parts of our bodies in good repair, and to help them grow, all is 
well with us, and we feel happy and comfortable. 

But if we breathe bad air, drink impure water, or eat the 
wrong kind of food, all cannot be well with us. We are then 
bound to feel more or less uncomfortable, and, if such a state 
of affairs goes on any length of time, we are sure to be ill. 

The Master of the House 

An empty house is very dull and uninteresting. It is the 
people who live in it whom we wish to hear about. If the 



The Master of the House 1 

house is well kept, we know that the people who dwell there 
are neat, and if it is pretty, we know they have good taste. We 
often judge of the people who live in the houses by the way 
those houses appear. 




An Empty House 

It is just the same with our bodies. The body is our house, 
and we would care very little about the bodies of others were 
it not that by looking at them we can often learn a great deal 
about the persons who live in them. 

In houses, there are often many persons at once; some are 



8 Yourself 

neat, others are not; some have taste, others have not; so, it is 
sometimes very hard to know just what kind of people are in a 
certain dwelling. But it is very different with our bodies. Each 
body has only one master, the real person, the part of us which 
thinks, and the body has to obey this master, who lives up in the 
top story, or the brain. 

Each house-master looks out of two little windows — the 
eyes, — hears all that is going on by means of two little tele- 
phones — the ears, — and sends messages all over the house to 
direct what shall be done. He hears, and sees, and notices, all 
that is going on around him whenever he wishes to do so. 

Many of the things done in and by the body, are done only 
when the master sends special orders; countless other things are 
done for him by his servants while he is sleeping or otherwise 
occupied, for each master has many, many little servants, all of 
whom know their duty and do it faithfully, as long as all is right 
and they are kindly treated. 

The Front Door 

The outside of the body is all covered with skin, in and under 
which run many little telegraph wires — the nerves. These tell 
the master of the house whether it is hot or cold, what we are 
touching or doing, and by means of them he sends word what 
he wants the hands or feet or any other part of the body to do. 
The skin is quite thick and hard on the outside of the body, es- 




The Front Door 9 

pecially in the places where it gets the most wear and tear; but 
in other spots it is quite thin and very tender and soft. 

The skin not only covers all the outside of the body, but it 
lines all the inside as well. Still, the inner skin is not nearly so 
thick as the outer skin. In fact, it is so thin, that you can see right 
through it. You can notice this by looking into your mouth 
in a mirror. Your skin begins to grow thinner when it reaches 
the lips. It lines all the inside of the mouth and runs down into 
the house, lining the halls, rooms, 
stairways, and the many pipes which 
run through the inside of it in all di- 
rections. 

The mouth is the front door of the 

f , . Your Front Door 

house. When the master, trom his 

post up near the windows (eyes), sees food coming, he tele- 
graphs to the doorkeeper: "Open the door!" Then the mouth 
flies open and the food is laid down on the tongue, which is a 
kind of door-mat. 

The skin lining the mouth and tongue is so thin, that you can 
see the blood through it, and the little telegraph wires are so 
near the surface, that they can feel very quickly what kind of a 
thing it is which has been put into the mouth. They telegraph 
to the master for instance: "It is a piece of good wheat bread." 

As soon as the master receives this message, he knows that 
bread ought to be chewed and mixed carefully with spittle, if it 
is to do the body all the good it should. So he right away tele- 



10 Yourself 

graphs to the jaws: "Begin chewing," and to the tongue: "Keep 
turning it over and over." Then he also sends word to all the 
little spittle buckets, which are hidden under the skin of the 
mouth and tongue, saying: "Pour out spittle, keep the food 
moist." 

All these orders are quickly obeyed, and soon the little nerves 
telegraph back to the master: "The longer that bit of bread is 
chewed, turned over and moistened, the sweeter it gets." Then 
the master answers: "That is right, that is just as it should be. 
Now, tongue, throw that food down-stairs, so that my servant 
the stomach can take charge of it." 

QUESTIONS. — In what way are you like a snail? Who took care of your 
little house when you were very little, and how? Who takes care of you now when 
you are alone or with other boys and girls? What are houses made of and how 
can they be repaired and made larger? How can your own little house be repaired 
and made larger? Who is master of your own little house, and what kind of a mas- 
ter is he? Where does he live and what does he do? Can you point out the windows, 
telephones and front door of your own little house? What covers all your house 
inside and out, and what difference is there in this covering? Can you describe what 
happens when your hand raises something to eat to your mouth? Why should you 
chew before swallowing? When the food is chewed soft where does it go? Can 
you tell just what orders the master gives when he sees a mouthful coming in? What 
orders does he givr to the tongue and spittle buckets, and why does he give them? 



CHAPTER II 

What Goes Into Your House 

IF you look into your mouth, keeping your tongue down, you 
will see a hole in the back. This hole leads to a kind of 
stairway which runs up into your nose and ears, and down 
into your stomach and lungs. The part running down looks like 
two tubes. One of these tubes is used for the air we breathe, 
and the other for the food we eat. Instead of steps, these stair- 
ways or tubes have elastic rings which open and shut, as you can 
feel if you choose, next time you swallow. 

You surely know that you can take in air, as well as food, 
through your mouth, if you care to do so. Well, the air-tube or 
staircase, is nearer the front of your body than the food-tube or 
staircase. In fact it opens just behind the hole you see in the 
back of your mouth. 

When the tongue gathers up the food to throw it down the 
food-tube, which is just beyond the air-tube, the master quickly 
telegraphs to the little doorkeeper, who opens and shuts the air- 
tube, saying: "Food coming, shut that door!" Right away, a 
little trap-door closes the opening of the air-hole, and the tongue 
pushes the food back over it, until it rolls down the food-tube, 
11 



12 



Yourself 



where each step or ring opens to receive it and then closes be- 
hind it, so as to prevent its going in any but the right direction. 

It is because there are such elastic rings in our food-tubes, that 
clowns at the circus can eat and drink even while standing on 
their heads ! Although you might think that the food and water 

would then run down 
into their noses or ears, it 
all goes to the right 
place, thanks to those 
useful little rings. 

At the bottom of the 
food, or back stairway, 
there is a little room 
called the stomach. This 
room, too, is all lined 
with skin. It is shaped 
something like a big pear, 
and is so elastic, that it 
can stretch so as to receive 
quite a large quantity of 
food at one time. 

This little room is also 
something like a cradle or swing, for it rocks and shakes the 
food for one, two, or three hours, so as to mix it up nicely. 

Now we are going to make believe (although the little room 
is really quite empty), that there is a little Dwarf who lives 




The Stomach Dwarf 



What Goes Into Your House 1 3 

down there, because I want you to know just what goes on in it. 

When the master telegraphs to the tongue: '"Throw that 
food down-stairs!" he also sends a message to the stomach, say- 
ing: "Food coming, get ready to receive it." Then the Dwarf 
runs to the tube or stairway, and when the food drops down into 
the stomach, he looks it all over very carefully. 

If it is good wholesome food, the Dwarf is greatly pleased. 
He rubs his hands with glee and says: "Bread! That's good. 
And nicely chewed, too. That's sensible. All mixed up with 
spittle. Ah ! That is just the way it should be ! That will 
make fine blood, bone, muscle and nerves!" 

Meantime, the front door up-stairs has opened to receive a 
mouthful of meat, which the master saw coming too. Again he 
telegraphs to the teeth: "Tear up that meat!" To the tongue: 
"Turn it over and over," and to the spittle buckets: "Moisten 
it." 

When the meat is just like pulp, the master bids the tongue 
throw it down the food-tube into the stomach. Again the air- 
tube closes, the food passes safely over the little trap-door, and 
rolls down-stairs, where the little Dwarf in the stomach receives 
it saying: "Ah! meat, and well chewed too. That is right! 
Meat should always be chewed up fine, or it gives me a world 
of trouble. 

"I am glad to see that the teeth and tongue up-stairs are doing 
their duty. Master must have reminded them to chew that food 
carefully. Sometimes, he is so taken up attending to other 



14 Yourself 

duties, that he forgets all about it. Then the jaws stop moving, 
the teeth don't chew, the tongue won't turn the food over and 
over, and the lazy thing gets rid of it all by throwing it down- 
stairs whole! 

"That does make me very cross, I must say. I have no teeth 
down here to use so as to grind and tear meat to pieces. Then 
too, I like to have it well mixed with spittle, because I know 
it will be so much easier to handle, and will make so much bet- 
ter building material for this little house." 

What the Dwarf Does with the Food 

The little Dwarf cheerfully receives all the bread, butter, 
meat, vegetables, milk, water and dessert which is sent down 
the tube at meal times, provided it is, as we have said, nicely 
chewed, and well mixed with spittle. But he gets very cross 
when you pour a lot of ice water, for instance, down the food- 
tube. "Bother!" he says, "I do wish my master would not 
allow that! Here is a lot of cold water. Now I'll have to 
warm it all up before I can go on with my work. Why didn't 
he remind the mouth to hold it long enough to warm it a bit be- 
fore sending it down to me?" 

Still, the little Dwarf is, after all, such a faithful good-na- 
tured servant, that however cross he may get, he goes right to 
work to heat up the cold water. Then, from the sides of the 
stomach, where there are many little tubes, the Dwarf takes a 



What the Dwarf Does with the Food 1 5 

kind of juice, like, and yet unlike spittle. This is now mixed 
up with the food, which the stomach next churns up and down, 
and around and around, for one, two, or three hours, until it is 
all mixed up into a soft mass, and so changed that you could 
not tell any more what part was meat, or bread or vegetables. 

Besides the little tubes which pour juice into the stomach, 
there are many others, which pump up the watery parts of the 
food after the stomach has churned it, and carry off this mate- 
rial to help make new blood. 

When the stomach has churned the food for awhile, and as 
soon as any of it is ready to pass on, the Dwarf opens a little 
door at the other end of the stomach, and lets the soft food drop 
down into a big pipe, all ready to receive it. You will soon 
hear more about this pipe and about the food, but now we want 
to watch the little Dwarf. When he has got rid of all the food, 
he breathes a sigh of relief. He has been working very hard, 
and says: "There! that work is neatly done! Now I must see 
about making more juice, so that when the next food comes 
tumbling down-stairs I'll have plenty on hand wherewith to 
churn it up nicely." 

The Dwarf then sets to work putting all the little juice buck- 
ets in order. Sometimes, while he is thus busy, and before he 
has had a chance to rest, the master telegraphs again that more 
food is coming to be taken care of. This makes the poor little 
Dwarf very cross indeed. 

There are, you know, many children, who treat their Dwarf 



16 



Yourself 



just so. They are very greedy, and never eat anything save 
what they like. These are often things which taste good, but 
which fill up the stomach, and do not supply much material out 




A Sick Child 



of which blood can be made to keep the little house in good 



repair. 



This naturally makes the little Dwarf very angry indeed, 



What the Dwarf Does with the Food 17 

for he knows he is working hard and all in vain. So he growls, 
and grumbles, and says: "My master ought to have more sense. 
Does he think I can make good building material out of nothing 
but candy, cake, jam, pickles, or such stuff as that? It is as 
silly as if he expected a builder to use loaves of bread instead 
of bricks, and taffy instead of mortar! Candy and cake are all 
right, if you only have a little of them, mixed up with the other 
things, such as milk, eggs, meat, vegetables, fruit and bread, but 
they are not much good if you get nothing else, I can assure 
you! 

When the Dwarf Gets Angry 

When the little Dwarf is really angry, he goes about his 
work in a sulky, half-hearted way. He does not mix the food 
up well, and is in a great hurry to get rid of it. Sometimes, he 
is so very cross, growls so much, and makes such a fuss, that it 
actually gives the master up-stairs a bad headache. 

At other times the Dwarf says in disgust: "Pah, food that 
does not make good blood always smells bad after it gets down 
here. Now I'll just let a whiff of the bad smell creep back up- 
stairs, so that master can know what a great mistake it is to send 
such stuff down here!" 

Then the dwarf opens the upper door and the smell creeps 
up, up, up, fills all the staircase and hallway, and even rushes 
out of the mouth or front door. Then, other people can smell it 



18 



Yourself 



m> 



too, for sometimes one hears them say: "Oh! Oh! So-and-so 
has such bad breath! Surely he has eaten something which 

does not agree with him." 

As I have told you, the 
Stomach Dwarf is really a 
very good-natured, obliging 
little fellow. He will put 
up with much ill-treatment 
for a time, but when he gets 
very cross, and begins to 
rebel, he can make it very 
uncomfortable for the mas- 
ter of the house. 

Once in a great while, 
too much candy or some- 
thing else comes tumbling 
down-stairs which is either 
very bad for the stomach, 
or which is more than the 
poor stomach, however 
elastic, can contain. Then 
the Dwarf gets in a big 
rage. He stamps about, 
clenches his fists, and all 
at once he cries out: "I 




The Stomach Dwarf Angry 



won't stand this any longer 



When the Dwarf Gets Angry 19 

With that, he gives the stomach such a fierce turn and shake, 
that all the food which is in it is hurled up-stairs again with great 
force. The master, whose head generally aches at this time, — 
because of the noise the Dwarf has made, although no one else 
can hear it— now receives word that food is coming up the stair- 
case! 

As you know, this is not the usual direction in which food 
travels, and the master is horribly put out and disgusted at 
having things go wrong. Still, he cannot help it now, so he 
quickly telegraphs to the trap-door to close, and to the front 
door to open. Then the food, which the stomach would not 
keep, all passes out of the house again. 

When this happens to a child, people say: "Oh, the poor 
child is sick at his stomach!" or, "Oh, poor little thing, how 
she vomits! What can be the matter with her? She must be 
ill." 

The real trouble, generally, is that the child has ill-treated 
its poor stomach until at last it rebels, and takes its revenge by 
ill-treating the child for a little while, so as to teach the 
youngster to behave more sensibly another time. 

When the stomach has thus been forced to punish its master 
for much ill use, it is just as well to give it a chance to rest. After 
a few hours of lying down, one can sip a little hot water into 
which was put a pinch of salt. This flows down the staircase 
and into the stomach, where the Dwarf is glad to use it to wash 
out his little room and make it all sweet and clean once more. 



20 Yourself 

About a half an hour later, if the Dwarf is very quiet, and the 
master's head stops aching, a little warm milk and toast is very 
good. 

Generally, the Dwarf receives this food very kindly, and if 
the master sends nothing but very plain food down to him for 
the next few days, he is likely to recover all his cheerful spirits 
and good temper, and to be once more the obliging, hard-work- 
ing little servant whom I have already described. 

The Dwarf Needs a Rest 

Still, there is something besides wrong food or too much of 
it, which is very likely to put the Stomach Dwarf out of tem- 
per. That is eating too often, and you will see that it is quite 
natural this should make him cross, when I explain to you just 
how it affects him. 

As I told you, the Stomach Dwarf receives all the food 
which comes down at meal times, and then sets to work to 
churn it up. This takes one, two, or three hours, sometimes 
even more. The length of time depends partly upon the £*W 
of food which was sent down to him, partly upon the quantity, 
and partly whether it was well chewed and nicely mixed with 
spittle. 

If during those one, two, three or more hours, a telegram sud- 
denly comes from the master saying: "More food is coming 
down the stairway!" the Dwarf has to stop work so as to go 



The Dwarf Needs a Rest 



21 



and receive it. Then he has to mix this new food with juice, 
and shake and stir it up so as to get it ready to handle with the 
rest. 

Meantime, the food 
which he has been obliged 
to stop working over, and 
which has grown very hot 
in the stomach, begins to 
spoil, and by the time the 
Dwarf can attend to it 
once more, it is partly rot- 
ten, and no longer good to 
make blood. 

Then the Dwarf grum- 
bles and says: "To think 
of all this nice food spoil- 
ing and going to waste, 
after everybody has had 
the trouble to get it ready 
and send it down here! 
Yes, it is a shame. It is 
good for nothing now. It 
won't make good blood, never mind how hard I try. If my 
master only had a little sense, he would have kept that front 
door tight shut. The very idea of letting in candy, 
cake, or any other stuff when I am still busy! He ought to 




Be Careful About Candy 



22 Yourself 

know better. If he does not look out I'll get angry and 
kick!" 

Then, too, food sometimes comes tumbling down at the very 
minute when the poor little Dwarf has got rid of the last meal, 
is longing for a little rest, and a chance to make some more 
juice. This, too, makes him very angry, indeed. 

Now, there are some children who never give their poor 
Stomach Dwarfs a chance to rest as long as they are awake. 
The little fellow is kept busy with a bit of this, and a taste of 
that, and has to work, work, all the time. Just stop 
and think how you would like to be treated in that 
way, and whether it is quite fair that you should treat your 
Stomach Dwarf so. 

You surely see, now, why older people so often say to chil- 
dren: "You should not eat between meals!" Yes; the older 
people are quite right, it is not good for your health to eat at 
any but regular hours, and then you should take only just enough 
of the most wholesome kind of food. 

If you are strong, if you sleep well, and if you have rosy 
cheeks it won't hurt you a bit to have a little plain cake, or 
candy, for dessert, but if you put sweets into your pocket, and all 
the time between one meal and the next, take a bite now and 
then, you keep bothering your poor little Stomach Dwarf, and 
by and by he will be sure to bother you. 

Once in a while, a fruit stone, or a button, or a bit of bone, is 
swallowed by accident, and comes down into the stomach. 



The Dwarf Needs a Rest 23 

The little Dwarf turns this strange thing over and over, shakes 
it and moistens it, and only when he finds that he can do nothing 
with it, does he allow it to pass on into the big tube, so as to get 
rid of it as quickly as possible. 

Sometimes the Stomach Dwarf, however badly treated, 
works on month after month, and year after year, as best 
he can; but he is nevertheless growing always weaker and 
weaker, and more tired, so that by the time his master is grown 
up, he will be quite worn out, and hardly able to work any 
more at all. 

Then the master will always be more or less sick and uncom- 
fortable. He will have to have a doctor, to take lots of nasty 
medicine, will be allowed to eat and drink only certain things, 
and be obliged to spend ever so much time and money taking 
care of a stomach, which, if well treated in childhood, 
would have grown stronger rather than weaker, and would 
have proved a faithful little servant as long as its master 
needed it. 

How a Baby Should Be Fed 

Until baby is a year old, at least, it should never have even 
the smallest taste of anything except the milk mother gives it, 
or the food carefully prepared for it in its bottle. 

When most of baby's teeth have come through, it may have 
a crust of bread, or a cracker, to bite upon, besides having milk, 
baby food, and sometimes a soft boiled egg. 



24 



Yourself 



Little by little, as he grows older, baby learns to eat hominy, 
rice, oatmeal, mashed potatoes with gravy, and many other soft 

and simple things. 



But it is only when 
a child has all his 
teeth, and when you 
can make him clearly 
understand that he 
must chew the food 
put into his mouth, 
that it is at all safe to 
give him even the tin- 
iest piece of meat, or 
anything hard. 

This is so well 
known by wise doc- 
tors, that there is a 
law in France, to for- 
bid giving any solid food to children under two years of 
age. Any person caught doing so, is therefore arrested, 
put in prison, or fined, just as happens here when any one steals. 
In France they say such people are robbing the baby of his 
health, — his most precious possession, — and they are right. 

There are some parents — who really should know much bet- 
ter — who give small children a wee taste of every different kind 
of food upon the table, just to see what they will do. These 




A Baby One Year Old 



How a Baby Should Be Fed 25 

people sometimes laugh until they cry over the funny faces the 
babies make. This is not only silly, but it is also very unkind 
to treat poor children so badly. 

You all know how tender a baby's outer skin is. Well, the 
skin inside of a baby is very, very delicate too. It is so delicate, 
that the least little thing can make it very sore. Even a wee 
little taste, of one of the many things which grown people can 
eat without its doing them any harm at all, is therefore very 
bad for a baby. 

Of course, after baby has once tasted sugar, candy, cake, and 
many other things which please him while in his mouth, he 
wants more. Poor baby does not know that there is as yet, none 
of the right kind of juice in his mouth or down in his stomach 
to mix up with this food, and turn it into blood, but the older 
people ought to know that. 

That food goes down into his little stomach, where the 
Dwarf, who is all ready to take care of milk, or baby food only, 
does not know what to do with the strange stuff which has come 
down to him. He shakes it up, but that only makes the tender 
stomach skin very sore and uncomfortable. Then poor baby 
frets, and cries, and every one wonders: "Why is that child so 
dreadfully cross?" 

After baby has been very unhappy, — and has made others 
very unhappy too, — some one may suggest that he has a pain, 
and give him a little medicine to stop it. But if baby had had 
nothing but his own food, and only at the right time, so that 



26 Yourself 

his stomach could have a little rest, he would probably not have 
needed this medicine at all, and would have been saved the dis- 
comfort he had to endure. 

A baby who has never tasted cake, or candy, or anything but 
what he should eat, does not know that the other things are 
good, so of course, he does not want them, and he is much more 
likely to grow up strong and happy without them. 

I have heard people say: "Oh, but baby sees me eat those 
things and he wants to eat them too." Well, baby sees you 
light a fire, ride a bicycle, sew on the machine, and do a host of 
other things which you would not dream of letting him do, 
never mind how much he wanted to do them or how hard he 
cried. And, after all, they are really no worse for baby than 
feeding him the wrong kind of food. 

Even little babies can soon learn not to ask for or touch cer- 
tain things, if the older people are only wise and patient in the 
way they teach them. If baby once learns that he never gets 
anything to eat, save what is put on his own plate, or into his own 
mug, he will not give nearly so much trouble as if he is allowed 
to taste what others eat. Some wise mammas know this very 
well, and are therefore very strict and careful, but many 
others do not know or understand this, and their poor baby 
suffers. 

Sometimes, older brothers and sisters have to take care of 
baby while mother is out or busy. If you ever have to do so, 
you should be very careful not to give baby even a taste of any 



What Hurts a Young Stomach 



27 



food you may be eating, because as you now know, his stomach 
is not yet ready for it, and you may make him very ill. 

What Hurts a Young Stomach 

Until three or four years of age, a child's meat and other food 
should be minced very fine, or mashed, before he is allowed to 




The Right Kind of Food Never Hurts the Stomach 

put it into his mouth. But, even then, he should be taught to 
chew it well. When he has learned to do so thoroughly, and 
when you are quite sure he can be trusted, you can give him 
meat which has been cut into small pieces, and it will do him no 
harm. 

The lining of all children's stomachs is so very tender, that 
they should never eat highly seasoned things, and until they are 



28 Yourself 

grown up they should never touch tea, coffee, mustard, pepper, 
pickles or such things. Even then, they should use these things 
only very moderately, for they do not make blood and can do 
harm. You may be greatly surprised to hear this, and you may 
say: "Oh, nonsense, I have eaten pickles and mustard, and have 
drunk tea and coffee often! It has never done me any harm, 
and I like all those things!" 

As I have told you, the skin lining your stomach is very thin 
and very sensitive; in fact, much thinner and far more sensitive 
than the skin covering even the inner part of your arm. Now 
take for instance, a small spoonful of mustard, just as much as 
you would put on your plate. Lay it on your arm, just above 
your wrist, and tie a cloth over it to keep it in place. Leave 
that mustard there, two or three hours — that is the length of 
time the mustard would remain in your stomach, you know, — 
and then see what happens. 

Remember, just the same thing, only far worse, happens 
down in your stomach, for the skin there feels the effect of mus- 
tard much more quickly than the thick skin upon your arm. 
When you are quite grown up, and when the skin of your stom- 
ach has grown tough with age and use, a little mustard may not 
only do you no harm, but may even do you much good; but such 
things, while wholesome for grown up people, are decidedly 
bad for all children. 

I have known some children, who, after trying the mustard 
experiment for themselves, and after receiving the explanation 



What Hurts a Young Stomach. 29 

which I have here given you, have been wise enough to give up 
eating all highly seasoned and spiced things, and drinking tea 
and coffee, although they were very fond of them all. In a few 
cases, the parents, not understanding the reason of this change 
in their children's diet, made great fun of them, said it was a 
cranky notion, and declared they had always eaten and drunk 
such things and so had their parents, some of whom had lived 
to be eighty! 

All this is very true, but people who live to be eighty, in spite 
of eating the wrong kind of food, and drinking tea and coffee, 
would certainly have lived to be one hundred, had they done 
without such unwholesome things, especially while they were 
young. 

None but very plain food should ever pass a child's lips, and 
certainly no child should ever drink anything but water, milk, 
or, once in a great while, a little cocoa, chocolate, lemonade, or 
some simple fruit syrup. All other drinks, even cider, root 
beer, and soda water, are not good for children, as will be ex- 
plained to you further on. 

QUESTIONS. — What kind of passages begin at the back of your mouth and 
where do they run? What are these passages for? Describe how the food is kept 
from going down the air tube. Why can the clown drink standing on his head? 
Why should you chew your food until it is soft? What does the Stomach Dwarf 
do and say when the food pleases him? What makes the Stomach Dwarf cross? 
When he is very angry how does he punish you? Can the poor little dwarf work 
all the time and be happy? If you eat often between meals what happens? Is it 
right to give a baby what you are eating? Why is it best for boys and girls to have 
simple things to eat? What is the food intended to make for the house? How does 
the Dwarf get rid of the food when he has churned it enough? 



CHAPTER III 
Where Food Goes 

WHEN you go into a strange house, you generally see 
nothing but the reception room or parlor. But 
in your own dwelling you visit all the different parts 
of the house. You therefore know that you could do without a 
parlor, much better than without a kitchen. The kitchen is by 
far the most useful room in the house, and if it is kept neat and 
clean, one need not be ashamed to let any one peep into it. 

Of course, when you have visitors, you receive them in the 
parlor, talk to them about pleasant subjects, and show them all 
the pretty things you have. Nobody runs for the garbage can, 
or the swill pail, to set it down before the visitors and ask them 
to sniff how bad it smells. Neither do you spread the con- 
tents of the trash-basket or of the ash-barrel out before your 
guests, or show them the soiled clothes of the family. 

No, indeed, we keep only pleasant and clean things in the 
parlor, and talk only about those. But every neat housekeeper 
has a garbage can and an ash-barrel, and they are very useful 
articles indeed, much more so, in fact, than pianos or picture 
books. Our houses could not be kept sweet and clean if all the 

30 



Where Food Goes 3 1 

ashes, papers and dirt were left in them, and our kitchens would 
not be fit to stay in, if they were littered up with all the potato 
and apple parings, the cabbage leaves, corn husks, pea-pods, 
fruit skins, scraps of meat, bone, etc. 

All those things would not only take up much room, and be 
in our way, but many of them would soon smell so bad that 
you could not stand it, and would either have to get out of the 
house or become very sick and die. 

All tidy housekeepers brush up the dust, pick up the papers, 
and clear out the ashes, every morning. These are carefully 
put into the ash barrel, which you know, is emptied every few 
days by men hired to collect such refuse in cities and towns. 
The bits of food which are left over, and which can no longer 
be used, all the fruit skins, vegetable parings, bones, etc., are 
carefully scraped off the plates, and out of the pots and pans, 
and put into the garbage can. Then, a careful housekeeper 
covers it up tightly, so that no bad smells can creep out to poi- 
son the air. The garbage can, too, is put where the street clean- 
ers can see and empty it when they make their usual rounds. 

If you live in the country, each house-owner has to look 
after the house refuse himself. Some of it is burned, some 
given to the pigs, some put on the manure heap to rot and make 
food for the ground, and such things as bones and ashes are 
often used to fill up holes or make roads. 

Now, although housekeepers or farmers have to spend a cer- 
tain amount of time every day attending to the refuse, they 



32 



Yourself 



don't make any fuss about it, and are not one bit ashamed of 
doing this work. They know that everybody has to do just 
that kind of thing, although it is not amusing, and there are far 
more interesting matters to talk about. 

Still, once in a while, a farmer or a housekeeper has to teach 
some one else how to dispose of this refuse. Or, perhaps, some 




Garbage Is Good for Pigs 

one discovers some new and better way to get rid of this rub- 
bish. Then, he naturally tells his friends and neighbors all 
about it, so they can get through their work more quickly, and 
have more time to spare for pleasanter things. 

A man, or woman, or child, who talks about refuse, with 
this object in view, is acting in a perfectly proper way, and if 



How and When to Speak of Certain Things 33 

he can thereby do good to his fellow-creatures, he is a public 
benefactor. But one who talks about it for mere fun, shows 
that he has a small mind, all taken up with unpleasant things, 
and that he is, therefore, unfit to associate with nice people. 

How and When to Speak of Certain Things 

As our body is a house, into which food is brought every 
day, it stands to reason that while some of that food is needed 
to feed the master of the house and his many servants, there is 
a part of it which is waste or refuse. That part must be re- 
moved, like the papers, dust, ashes and garbage, which we 
talked about a little while ago. 

Just as we are not in the habit of speaking before strangers 
of our ash barrels or garbage cans, we generally do not men- 
tion the body refuse in public. But just as an old housekeeper 
has to teach younger ones how to dispose of ashes and swill, so 
they can keep their houses sweet and clean, you must learn all 
about the body refuse, if you are to take proper care of your 
own little houses. 

Of course, all children old enough to read this book, will 
readily understand that there are times and places for every- 
thing. If a subject, not generally talked about, is mentioned 
here, it is because it is right and proper that you should know 
all about it. Stupid children always giggle, snicker, whisper, 
nudge each other, and exchange knowing glances when such 
matters are spoken about in their presence. 



34 Yourself- 

But all the bright children are far too sensible to act in such 
a rude or silly way. They think: "Our mother or teacher 
knows what is in this book, and what we ought to know. We 
must read carefully and learn all we can, because our health 
and even our lives can be lost by lack of care in just such mat- 
ters as these we are now learning about." 

Of course, all the nice children know that while they must 
truthfully answer any questions parents, teachers, or doctors, 
ask in regard to this subject, they are never to talk about it 
to any one else. For although there is nothing wrong about 
the body's refuse, it is not one bit nicer to talk about it need- 
lessly, than to bring the garbage pail into the parlor. 

Now, I think even the smallest child who reads this book 
will understand how to behave, and I feel sure that none but 
those who have garbage pail minds will ever talk about it after- 
wards, save when they must, and then only in the briefest and 
nicest way. 

If any one should begin to speak to you on this subject in 
any other way, you can quietly tell them that this book has told 
you all about it, and that you have far too much respect for 
yourself and for the house which God has given you, to talk 
about it unless it is really necessary to do so. 

When the Stomach Dwarf opens the lower door of the 
stomach, the food which is ready, drops down into a big tube. 
As it has been mixed with the spittle and the stomach juice, it 
is already very soft. Still, it is now to be mixed again with 



How and When to Spea\ of Certain Things 35 

two other kinds of juice, which flow down from factories just 
above this big tube. 

The food which had already been changed by the mouth 
and stomach juices, is changed once more by these juices, and 
well shaken up again. When this is done it begins a long jour- 
ney, for now it has to pass through many feet of tubing, all 
coiled up in your body, just below the line of your belt, or 
waist. This tubing varies greatly in size, and the different 
parts have very long names which only doctors are wise enough 
to know and remember. 

Other people, when obliged to talk about these tubes, call 
them all bowels. Our bowels are very elastic, and they, too, 
open to let the soft food slide down, and close behind it so as 
to make sure that it will go only in the right direction. 

The bowels are made of skin and lined with skin something 
like velvet. Now, you know that if you look at velvet very 
closely, you can see a lot of little hairs or threads standing up 
on end. If you were to look at the skin lining the bowels, with 
a strong magnifying glass or microscope, you would see the 
little hairs or threads which cover every bit of it. 

Strange to say, every one of these little hairs is alive, and 
can move. Some of them pull the skin so that it will widen or 
tighten as the food passes, others bring a new kind of juice to 
mix with it, and the rest have tiny mouths which greedily drink 
up the liquid part of the food as it passes by. In fact, there are 
so many of these little hairs or mouths, that by the time the 



36 Yourself 

food has slowly traveled all along the bowels, — which are 
about five times as long as the owner of the house is tall — they 
have sucked up all that part of the food which is good for the 
body. 

Nothing but the garbage, or refuse, is now left in the bowels, 
and that travels on to the place provided for it, which we will 
call the body garbage can. Even here, there is a servant, 
ready to attend to it, and from this place, too, little telegraph 
wires run up to the head so that this servant can send a message 
to the master of the house. If the master is a wise housekeeper, 
he attends to the matter right away, if it is possible to do so, 
for he knows it is not nice or healthful to keep refuse in the 
house a minute longer than needful, and he therefore bids the 
feet carry the body to the privy, water-closet, or toilet. 

A good careful master, and neat housekeeper, sees that the 
garbage can is emptied every day at nearly the same hour, and 
generally as early in the morning as possible. He trains his 
little servant to be ready at the hour most convenient to him to 
see to this important part of his housekeeping. 

But, if the master wants to have a well-trained servant, he 
must begin early, and not let him get into bad habits. Then, 
too, he must be sensible, and ready to heed any messages his 
servant sends. If the master does not pay any attention when 
the garbage can servant sends word that all is ready, the ser- 
vant is very apt to grow careless and lazy, and before long the 
house is no longer well kept. Sometimes this servant grows so 



Why Garbage Should Be Removed 37 

very sulky, that he does not send any more messages at all, 
although he knows very well that the garbage can is full, and 
should be emptied. 

When he grows as lazy as this, it is very bad indeed for the 
master of the house. All the garbage which should be re- 
moved then stays in the house and poisons the air all through 
it. That, you know, is not right. The garbage or refuse 
which should have been emptied not only fills the inside of 
the house with bad smells, but it soon makes the master very 
uncomfortable indeed. 

Then he feels sorry that he did not pay attention to the 
call of the garbage servant, who sometimes gets so cross that he 
won't empty the can even when his master tells him. When 
this happens, the master has to take medicine, or else he will 
be really very ill. 

Why Garbage Should Be Removed 

There are many, many children, who, not knowing how 
very, very important it is to empty their garbage every day, pay 
no heed at all when the garbage servant says he is ready. 
Sometimes they don't want to be interrupted in their play, and 
sometimes they are really ashamed not to have attended to that 
part of their work when they could have done so without call- 
ing any one else's attention. In those cases the master sends a 
telegraph message back to the garbage servant saying: "I really 
cannot attend to this matter now, just wait a little while." 



38 



Yourself 



Like the Stomach Dwarf, the Garbage Can Dwarf is really 
a very good servant, and only gets cross when badly treated. 
He therefore obeys this message without making much fuss, 
and if his master is sensible, and seizes the very first chance to 
attend to his work, he does not make any trouble. 

But, every time one of his messages is really neglected, he 

loses some of his strength and in- 
terest, until he finally becomes 
lazy and unreliable. That is one 
reason why every house master 
should be so very careful about 
keeping him in good order. A 
properly trained garbage servant 
always calls to have his can emp- 
tied long before it is time to go to 
school, or to work, and then he 
does not send any more messages that day. 

But, if the house owner puts him off, or allows him to get 
into careless habits, the call may come at some other time. Be- 
sides, much more food may have gone into the house than is 
really needed. In that case, there is sure to be more refuse, for 
all food which cannot be sucked up on its way through the 
stomach and bowels, is waste, and has to be cast out of the 
body. 

As every human being eats and has to dispose of refuse, 
every one knows that each house owner prefers to attend to this 




The Garbage Pail 



Why Garbage Should Be Removed 39 

matter when he can do so without attracting attention. But as 
every one knows, there are times and places when this is not 
possible, then the only right and proper thing to do, is to take it 
as a matter of course, and leave the room, or quietly beg to be 
excused. 

Because it is natural for every living creature to get rid in 
this way of part of the body refuse, and because it is forced 
out by a squeezing motion of the bowels or a "movement of the 
bowels," it is often called by nice people "having a passage" 
or "attending to Nature's calls" when it becomes necessary to 
speak of this private matter to a doctor or to any one else. 

QUESTIONS. — Why do you receive visitors in the parlor rather than in the 
kitchen? Do you show them what is in the garbage can? What is a good house- 
keeper, and what does she do? Does your little house have a place for waste? Is 
a house full of waste a pleasant place to live in? How do bright children act when 
private things must be talked about? Into what place does the Stomach Dwarf 
drop the churned food? Does the food go far, and how does it travel through such 
a long, narrow passage? What part is sucked up as it passes along? When the 
waste reaches the body garbage can, what should a neat housekeeper do, once at 
least every day? If the housemaster does not pay attention to the garbage servant's 
messages, what happens? If the garbage can servant sends a message when you are 
in class or company, what should you do? How should you call emptying the body 
garbage can to your parents or to the doctor ? In what way can you teach your garb- 
age can servant good habits? 



CHAPTER IV 

Things You Should Know 

YOU have heard of the little tubes which suck up the 
liquid part of the food while it passes through the 
stomach and bowels. Of course, you wonder why 
these tubes take it up, and what they are going to do with it. 
These tiny tubes are so cleverly made, that they take up only 
the good part of the food, leaving all the rest. The food they 
take is all liquid and looks something like milk. They carry it 
off and pour it into many of the blood tubes, some of which go 
right to the liver. 

You may never have heard that you have a liver, which 
looks very much like the liver bought at the butcher's. Your 
liver is a big, dark red lump on the right side of your body, very 
near your stomach and just above your waist line. It is a kind 
of strainer for all the food brought to it, and a manufactory for 
one of the juices poured into the bowels, to change, or digest, 
the food sent on by the stomach. Your liver, for instance, is 
said to take charge of all the sugar in the food you eat. Now, 
we are going to make believe that there is a Liver Dwarf, as 
well as a Stomach Dwarf, although you know there is really 
40 



Things You Should Know 41 

nothing of the kind, and it is the liver itself which does all the 
work. 

The Liver Dwarf is very glad indeed when the pipes bring 
him sugar, for he knows it is good for the body. But, just be- 
cause sugar is needed by all living bodies, there is a little of it 
in all of the fruit, vegetables, and grains we eat. In fact, there 
is sugar even in white as well as in sweet potatoes, and a great 
deal of it is found in carrots, peas, and beets, as well as in the 
fruits in which we can actually taste it. 

The bread, fruit and vegetables we eat, supply nearly enough 
sugar for all the body's needs, so we really ought to add very 
little pure sugar to our meals. As I told you before, the Liver 
Dwarf likes to get some sugar, but whenever he gets too much 
of it, he has to work extra hard. 

Like the other parts of the body, the liver is very good-natured 
at first. If the master sends down more sugar than the body 
needs just then, the Liver Dwarf thinks: "Ah, master knows I 
need sugar to make good blood. He has sent down more 
than I want to-day, but perhaps he knows he cannot get 
any at all to-morrow, and he does not want me to fall short." 

Then the liver sets cheerfully to work to store away all the 
sugar he does not need, so as to have it handy for use by and 
by, when none is brought from the stomach and bowels by the 
little tubes. The Liver Dwarf says: "Yes, yes, I do have to 
work extra hard just now, but then my master will doubtless 
give me long rest pretty soon." 



42 



Yourself 



Sometimes it happens just so. But then again, it does not. 
There are, as you know, countless children, and many grown 
people, who eat a great deal of sugar in the shape of candy, 

cake, and sweetmeats, besides tak- 
ing sugar in their coffee or tea, sugar 
on their oatmeal, hominy or rice, 
sugar, molasses or syrup (and that is 
all sugar after all) on their bread or 
pancakes, and even sugar on their let- 
tuce and peas ! All this sugar is more 
than the body needs, so the poor Liver 
Dwarf works over it, storing it away, 
and thinking the day is coming when 
all this supply will be sorely needed. 

What the Dwarf Does with 
too Much Sugar 

When, day after day, the master 
sends down more sugar than the liver 
can use, the poor Liver Dwarf gets 
very cross and tired and says: "This 
will never do. Here I am doing much 
more than my share of work, and all 
because master is greedy and selfish, and thinks that sugar tastes 
good. Well, so it does. I like sugar too. But, I like just 
enough of it. I don't want much more than I can use!" 




The Liver Dwarf 



What the Dwarf Does with too Much Sugar 43 

After much ill-use, the Liver Dwarf gets so cross and tired, 
that he works slowly, and in a sleepy, instead of in a brisk, 
wide-awake way. Sometimes he warns his master that all is 
not well, by making such a fuss that the master's head aches, 
very much as it does when the Stomach Dwarf is angry. Some- 
times he sends some vapors up through the tubes, leading to the 
stomach ; they cover the tongue with an ugly white coat which 
looks so much like fur that people then say they have "furred 
tongues." 

At other times, the Liver Dwarf sends some of his yellow 
juice all over the house, until it shows right through the skin and 
the white part of the eyes. Then every one says: "Why, how 
yellow you are, you must be bilious!" These people are quite 
right, for that yellow juice is called bile, and whenever it flows 
all over the house, instead of going only into the bowels, — 
where it is needed, — the body is bilious, and does not feel 
comfortable. 

If the master is wise, he will stop and think whether he has 
been quite sensible and whether he has treated all his servants 
just as he should. If he is clever enough to understand what I 
have explained to you, he thinks: "Ah, now I know what is the 
matter. I have allowed too much sugar to come into my house. 
My poor little Liver Dwarf has evidently been overworked for 
many days. I really must give him a rest. What he needs is 
no sugar at all until he has used up all the store on hand. 

"Then, if I move about a great deal, if I walk, and run, and 




44 



Running Is "Good for the Liver 



The Waste Water 45 

jump, or ride horseback, it will give my liver a good shaking up. 
That will please my little Liver Dwarf. He likes a good shak- 
ing, and will grow cheerful and lively again. By and by he 
will be quite ready to take up his work once more, and will stop 
making a fuss." 

If the master keeps his word, the Liver Dwarf generally does 
get all right again, but if no sweets and plenty of exercise does 
not bring him around, the master should have sense enough not 
to take any of the pills or medicines which friends will recom- 
mend, as "good for the liver," but to go and see a good doctor. 
He will know what is best for this special liver, because all 
livers are not alike, any more than all people are alike. 

The Waste Water 

As you have already learned, all the solid part of the waste 
is cast out of the body by the garbage servant, just as in our 
houses we get rid of the solid waste by means of the ash barrel 
and garbage can. But there are other kinds of waste which are 
taken out of our houses by means of the sewer. 

As we drink a great deal, and as all kinds of food contain 
more or less water, a great deal of liquid goes into our bodies 
every day. Some of this liquid is needed to make blood. But 
every day, part of the liquid in the body, having been already 
used, is no longer pure, and needs to be removed. 

Nearly all the liquid we take into our mouths, is sucked up 



46 



Yourself 



by the little tubes in the stomach and bowels, from where, as 
you will learn later on, it is carried to different parts of the 

body to make blood. Sooner or 
later all this blood has to pass 
through the kidneys. 

The kidneys are two reddish 
lumps, about as big as your fists, 
placed on either side of your 
backbone, just under your belt 
line. The blood, in passing 
through the kidneys, is carefully 
strained, for the kidneys are a 
kind of blood sieve. They are 
made so cleverly, that they can 
strain all the impure water out 
of the blood, and remove many 
tiny bits of yellow colored waste 
from it. 

All the nice clean blood soon 
goes back to the heart, but the 
kidneys let the waste water flow 
down into a little sac, called the 
bladder. This sac is in the front 
part of the body, on a line with 
the garbage can. When the sac is full, the Bladder Dwarf 
sends a telegram to warn the master that it should be emptied. 




The Location of Your 
Kidneys 



What Happens to Careless Masters 47 

The master, who knows that this is true, generally pays atten- 
tion to this message, and sends back the necessary orders to 
have the waste water emptied from the body. 

It is because emptying the waste water is a very private mat- 
ter, — just like emptying the garbage can, — that the body open- 
ings by means of which these two things are done, are always 
called the private parts. Nice people never talk about them, 
save when necessary, as I have already explained to you, and 
all except tiny children, filthy boys, and ignorant savages, 
always keep these parts carefully covered, except when they 
are alone in the water-closet or taking a bath. 

Just as we must be very careful to keep our kitchen sinks very 
clean, and to cover our garbage cans, we must take special care 
of the private parts of our bodies. Every child old enough to 
read this book, should therefore get into the habit of washing 
these parts, every night and morning, with soap and water, for 
only in that way can one be sure to keep the house which God 
has given us clean as it should be kept. 

What Happens to Careless Masters 

When the master is too busy to attend to emptying the waste 
water as soon as the Dwarf calls that the bladder is full, he 
sends a telegram bidding him wait. The Dwarf obeys, but as 
the waste water goes on flowing down from the kidneys, his 
sac gets more and more full, and stretches and stretches, until it 



48 Yourself 

nearly bursts. Then the Bladder Dwarf often sends another 
message, so that the master will be sure to know how uncom- 
fortable matters are getting down in that part of the house. 

If this message also is not attended to, the waste water has 
to back up into the kidneys and stop their working. Then things 
are very bad indeed. The kidney servant is very angry because 
he cannot get rid of the waste water and strain the blood, and 
the Bladder Dwarf is angry because no one pays any heed to 
his messages. 

Like all the other little servants in the body, both of these 
dwarfs have done all they could, and are hindered in their work 
merely by the master's orders. If the master cannot help hinder- 
ing them, they are generally pretty patient, but when he does so 
only because he is selfish, or because it suits him best not to pay 
any attention to them, they get very angry. Then they take 
their revenge by growing careless and lazy, and doing their 
work badly, or by making such a fuss that the master often feels 
really ill. 

So, you see, for his own comfort, the master should be very 
careful to see that the waste water is always emptied at the 
right time. If he is wise, he soon finds out that by emptying the 
sac, or "making water" as it is called, in the morning on rising, 
at noon, and in the evening before going to bed, the Bladder 
Dwarf is apt to be satisfied, and not likely to bother him at other 
times by interrupting him in his work or in his play to attend to 
his affairs. 






How to Care for the Little Ones 49 

Should a message come, however, in spite of all this, the mas- 
ter may be pretty sure that he is either drinking more than need- 
ful, or that there is something a little bit out of order in his body, 
and that he must be very kind and patient until the Kidney and 
Bladder Dwarfs get everything running nicely again. A good 
master can help them by being very careful about his food and 
drink, taking plenty of exercise, keeping his body just warm 
enough, and by not getting angry, for if one is cross, there is 
more waste water to get rid of than when one is pleasant and 
good tempered. 

How to Care for the Little Ones 

Most boys and girls have smaller brothers and sisters whom 
they often have to look after while mother is busy or away. In 
taking a little child to the water-closet, great care and patience 
should be used. Remember that if you keep a small child 
waiting, or if you do not give it time enough to empty the waste 
properly, you are doing that child great harm, for you are hin- 
dering the necessary body work from being done as it should. 

Carelessness in this matter may ruin a little child's health for 
life, and may even cause its death. So you see how very, very 
careful you should be. 

Besides using patience and being very clean in caring for lit- 
tle ones, you should teach them, as soon as possible, to attend 
to these private affairs themselves. 



50 Yourself 

If you are always careful, if you teach them to do this as a 
duty, if you never allow them to play while attending to this 
matter, and if by every word and look, — as well as by the ex- 
ample you set them, — you show them how to be clean and mod- 
est at all times, the little ones, by the time they are five or six 
years old — or even sooner if they are very bright — will have 
learned this lesson thoroughly. Then, wherever they go, every 
one will feel sure that they belong to nice people, never mind 
how poor they may be, what kind of clothes they may wear, or 
how little else they may have had a chance to learn. 

Most mothers, nurses, and elder sisters understand how im- 
portant it is for little children to be taught these matters from the 
first. But a few very fond and foolish older people think that 
they can best show their great love for baby by admiring every- 
thing he does, by repeating his speeches, and by saying again 
and again: "Isn't our baby too dear, and cute, and innocent 
for anything!" 

Yes, your baby is all that, and a great deal more besides. 
But if you wish to keep your babies dear, and cute, and inno- 
cent, you must begin very early to train them gently and firmly 
in the way they should go. If you do not, you may be shocked 
some day, by hearing some one call your "innocent darling" a 
"horrid, dirty little brat," and by discovering that this remark, 
however coarse, is only too true. 

Babies cannot learn too early to be as clean and modest as 
babies can be, and whether they grow up to be nice children, and 



What Older Children Should Know 



51 



pure-minded and decent men and women, depends greatly upon 
the training they receive during the first few years of their lives, 
and upon the example set them by the older children. 

What Older Children Should Know 

In our last pages we talked about the babies, and how to train 
them to be modest and clean. Now I wish to speak a word to 
the older children. 

Never mind how poorly 
you may have been taught 
hitherto, you can all begin 
right now, to be clean and 
modest, and to train your- 
selves into right habits and 
nice ways of thinking. 

No one, not even the 
most loving mother or the 
most clever teacher that 
ever lived, can train you 
half as well as you can train yourselves, if you only choose to do 
so. Whenever I see brave boys or girls take themselves in hand, 
with a mind made up to do what is right, I know those children 
are bound to make the finest kind of men and women. Because, 
such a resolve, kept ever in mind, is bound to have good results 
at last. 

Such children deserve the respect of every one, and every- 




A Sweet, Clean Baby 



52 Yourself 

body should help them as much as possible. It is to the brave 
child, to the child who will do what is right and proper, even if 
some of its playmates and elders laugh, and call him "fussy" or 
"cranky," that I am talking now, for I know that cowards never 
amount to anything, until they change and become brave enough 
to face ridicule. 

Careful mothers, who realize how easy it is to learn bad or 
careless ways, and how hard it is not to hear what other children 
may say which is not nice, always train their little ones to go to 
the water-closet alone, to close the door, and not to open it 
again until they are quite ready to be seen by anybody. These 
parents teach them that it is very bad manners to come out of 
that place until their clothes have been all buttoned up again, 
and everything is in good order about themselves and about the 
place they are leaving. 

Some years ago, — perhaps when your mammas were little 
girls — it was considered all right for two or three little girls 
to go to the water-closet together, or for several little boys to 
escort one another. But now, all the careful mothers are teach- 
ing their children to go there alone. Before long, this will be 
so general a custom among all the nicely brought up children, 
that any boy or girl who seems at all careless in this matter, will 
be looked down upon as a very vulgar, ill-behaved child, be he 
rich or poor. 

If you wish to avoid being considered badly brought up, and 
if you wish to do what is right and proper, you will from this 



What Boys Should Know 53 

time on, say very firmly and politely to any of your playmates 
who offer to go with you to the bathroom or privy: "Please ex- 
cuse me, but I must be alone for a few minutes. I do not wish 
any company." 

Then you can go in the bathroom or privy alone, and close 
the door behind you. Of course, if you have been in the habit 
of allowing other children to go with you until now, they may 
think this very strange. In that case you must simply tell them 
that you are never going to allow any one to go with you to that 
place again, because you now know that it is a strictly private 
matter. 

Some of your playmates, and perhaps some of the older peo- 
ple who have not read this book through, and who do not un- 
derstand why you do this, may make fun of you at first. But 
you may be sure that they cannot help but admire, in their 
hearts, the firmness and modesty of any child who will dare to 
do what is really right and proper, never mind what others may 
say. Later on, when they find out how right you were, and 
how wrong they were, they will be very much ashamed of 
themselves, and will wish with all their hearts they had never 
made fun of you, but had always been as brave and modest as 
you. 

What Boys Should Know 

In the last pages we talked mostly about babies and girls, now 
we are going to speak mostly about boys. Every one knows that 



54 Yourself 

girls as a rule are cleaner and tidier than boys. That is because 
boys play rougher games and are careless how they look. 

But, although a boy may not care how dirty he gets, or how 
badly he looks when out at play, he should remember that it 
matters greatly at all times what he is. He should therefore 
always bear in mind to be the right kind of a boy, so as to make 
sure he will grow up to be the right kind of a man. 

When President McKinley died, every one in the United 
States whose opinion was worth having, thought that the grand- 
est thing which was said of him was that he was such a clean- 
minded man that no one ever ventured to tell a bad story or 
make any improper remark in his presence. 

This, I am happy to say, is true of many men in our country. 
But then, too, there are many really pure-minded men here, 
who are not as brave as McKinley, and who do not dare to 
show others by their looks, their manner, or when necessary, by 
a few brief words, that they will not allow others to use improp- 
erwords or tomention improper or private things in their hearing. 

McKinley did not wait until he was President of the United 
States to show his dislike for all such low, ill-bred things. He 
had begun long, long before that. A clean-minded man could 
only have been a clean-minded boy; one who loved and re- 
spected his mother, and who was not willing to do or hear any- 
thing which he would not like her to know. 

Boys who wish to grow up to deserve such high praise as 
that, must begin right now. Although every boy cannot become 



What Boys Should Know 55 

President, all boys can be good, true, clean-minded men, if they 
choose to do so. 

A boy who wishes to grow up to deserve the respect of every- 
body must begin by respecting himself, and he can do so only 
when his conscience tells him that he is doing what is right and 
that he is worthy of respect. 

Even a boy of five ought to know that he must attend to the 
calls of the garbage can and the waste water dwarfs only in 
private. Whenever it is possible, he should, even at the cost of 
some time and trouble, go to the place provided for that purpose. 
Many boys are far from careful or modest about this, matter, but 
if they knew what older people, and especially what girls and 
women think of their carelessness, they would blush redder than 
any flower that ever grew, and hide their heads in bitter shame. 

When they are still very little, people blame their mothers 
severely, but you can easily imagine how shocked and mortified 
some of those poor mothers would be, if they knew that their 
dear boys were behaving more like dogs than like human beings ! 

When such careless boys grow up, they are likely to forget 
themselves, merely because they have gotten into bad habits. 
That is the reason why there are so many men whom gentle- 
manly men call brutes, although the brutes are really not half 
as bad, for they know no better. 

Another thing which boys should be more careful about, is 
getting undressed on the bank of a river or brook, and going in 
swimming without bathing tights. In cities, boys who are of so 



56 



Yourself 



low a class, and so lost to all sense of decency and shame as to 
do that, are arrested. 

In country towns, where policemen are few, those who offend 
thus against the laws of decency, are seldom punished. That 

is to say, they are not 
arrested, but I know 
of more than one boy 
who is no longer in- 
vited to certain nice 
houses, simply be- 
cause some older 
member of the family 
learned that he was 
not careful enough in 
these matters to be 
trustworthy. 

It is not always easy 
for a boy to find a 
house near the river 
or pond, where he can 
undress. But every 
boy can look carefully 
around, to make sure he is not in sight of any house or any party 
of pleasure seekers. 

Besides, he can surely find a clump of bushes, a pile of lum- 
ber, a heap of rocks, or a tree trunk, behind which he can stand 




Good Costumes for Bathing 



What Boys Should Know 57 

while undressing and dressing. It is always easy for a boy to 
carry his bathing tights in his pocket, and a boy who goes in 
bathing without them, in any place where he is at all likely to be 
seen by any one, shows that he has none of the fine feelings 
which go to make a gentleman. 

There are some men who merely laugh at such matters and 
say: "Oh! Boys will be boys." But gentlemanly men declare 
that "Boys can be boys, but they do not need to be pigs ! " Yes ; 
you can be boys, and nice boys too, and can have plenty of the 
kind of fun that will always linger in your minds without bring- 
ing a blush to your cheeks. But the only way to do so, is to 
remember never to do anything which you would not be will- 
ing to tell your mother or to let her see. 

QUESTIONS.— How does your food get into your blood? Where and what 
is your liver? What does the Liver Dwarf like? When too much sugar is sent to 
the Liver Dwarf, what does he do? In what part of your body is the blood 
strained? Where does the good part go? Where does the bad part go? How does 
the Bladder Dwarf get rid of it? How does the Bladder Dwarf punish a careless 
housekeeper? How can you train your Bladder Dwarf into good habits? When 
you take little brothers and sisters to the water-closet, should you be patient, and 
what should you teach them? Is it nice for big children to go to the water-closet 
with others? When boys attend to Nature's calls in public, or undress for a swim 
in everybody's sight, what do well-bred people think? 



CHAPTER V 
Your Twin Pumping Dwarfs 

YOU have already heard of several of the clever little ser- 
vants who live in your house and work for you night 
and day as long as you live. They do not ask for any 
wages or holidays, and keep cheerful and active as long as you 
treat them kindly, and do not hinder them too much in their 
work. 

Now I am going to tell you about the Twin Dwarfs, who 
live in the pumping station. They, too, are very busy little ser- 
vants, and if you put your ear down on any one's chest, just a 
little below the left breast, you can easily hear these two little 
dwarfs working busily night and day. 

The pumping station is also called the heart. Although it 
is only as big as your fist, it is divided into four small rooms, 
in which a great deal of work is done, as you are going to see. 
There is a thin but strong wall running right through the mid- 
dle of the heart, or pumping station, and as there is no opening 
of any kind in this wall, the twins, who live on either side of it, 
never catch a glimpse of each other. Still, they can hear each 
other, exchange telegrams, and their duties are so very much 
alike that they are real twins in every way. 
58 



Your Twin Pumping Dwarfs 59 

On the left side of the heart, at the top there is a room, (au- 
ricle) into which a pipe pours bright, red blood. When this room 
is full of blood, the Pumping Dwarf, who lives on that side of 
the heart, opens a little trap-door in 
the floor and lets the blood flow down 
into a room just below it, (ventricle) 
whose walls are very elastic indeed. 

When all the blood has flowed 
down, the Dwarf closes the door again, 
and begins to tug at some ropes which 
draw that elastic walled room to- 
gether, very much in the same way as 
you squeeze a rubber bulb in your 

hand. 

nr .1 li j !_• l ,.l The Pumping Twins 

Ur course, the blood which the 

room contains has to go somewhere, and as the doors above are 

shut tight, and it cannot go back into the upper room, it rushes 

quickly down into a big pipe in one corner of the lower room, 

making a roaring noise which you can hear if you listen very 

closely with your ear against some one's chest. 

The blood thus forced out of the lower room by Pumping 

Dwarf number one, flows swiftly along the big tube which soon 

divides into two smaller branches. These, in turn, break up 

into two more, which both split up before long, and so it goes 

on, each tube being just a little smaller than the one before, 

until at last the tubes get to be finer than the finest hair. 




60 Yourself 

When the Pumping Dwarf has emptied his lower chamber, 
he takes a wee rest while the upper chamber fills up once more. 
Then he starts up, opens the door, closes it again, tugs at his 
ropes, and sends a new roomful of blood down into the big tube. 

Night and day the Pumping Dwarf works, resting only be- 
tween each squeeze, and he is so steady and reliable that you 
can hear him working away almost as regularly as a clock ticks. 
He is so faithful, that the master does not need to remind him of 
his duty, or to send him any orders. In fact, the master can go 
to sleep, feeling quite sure the Pumping Dwarf will go on work- 
ing just as steadily as if he were watched every minute. 

The Pumping Dwarf works on so steadily, not only because 
he is a good servant, but because he knows that new blood is 
needed in all the different parts of the body every second. He 
is aware of the fact that you need more blood when you are 
running, than when you are sitting still, and more when you are 
awake than when you are asleep; so he pumps more or less fast 
to keep up the supply. 

The Blood-Boats 

You may wonder why it is so very important that fresh blood 
should go to all parts of the body so often, and I am going to 
try and explain it so that you will be sure to understand. You 
have all seen blood, and so you all know that it looks very much 
like bright red water. Still, none of you have sharp enough eyes 



The Blood-Boats 



61 



to see what wise doctors have found out by means of their mi- 
croscopes. That is that blood is really made of several things. 

Here is a little glass bottle. It is quite empty so you can see 
right through it. Now I am going to fill it with pure water. 
You can still see through the 
bottle, can you not? And, if I 
hold it far enough away, you 
cannot feel quite sure whether it 
it is full or empty, because clear 
water and clean glass look very 
much alike at a distance. 

I am now going to drop all 
these tiny red glass beads into 
the bottle. See, it is quite full 
of them, although there is still a 
little water between and around 
the beads. If I hold the bottle 
far enough away from you, you 
won't notice the water at all, but 
the bottle will look just as if it 
were filled with some red liquid. 

Next, we will empty the bottle, and fill it again with water 
and red beads, but putting in one white glass bead to every three 
hundred red ones. If I hold the bottle far away, you won't 
notice either the water or the white beads, and it will still look 
just as if the bottle were full of red liquid. But, if I bring it 




The Bottle and Beads 



62 Yourself 

near enough to your eyes, you will be able to see the water, and 
even to count the red and white beads. 

It is just the same with our blood. All the blood in our 
bodies is made up of a yellowish kind of water, in which float 
many, many red and white things shaped something like beads. 
The red ones are so many, and lie so close together in the yel- 
low water, that they make it look red, just as the water in the 
bottle looked red when many red beads were in it, and I held 
it at a distance. 

The little red beads in the blood are so very tiny, that no 
human eye has ever been sharp enough to see them, but a micro- 
scope shows them very plainly. As you know, the red and 
white glass beads in the bottle are all hard and lifeless, but each 
of the little red or white beads in our blood is soft and alive. In 
fact, each one of them is something like a little boat, 
for it floats rapidly along in the watery part of the blood, 
carrying a load of food and air to all the different parts of 
the body. 

Since the blood beads or boats are so very small that you can- 
not see them without the help of a microscope, you can readily 
understand what very small loads of food and air they carry. 
But, there are so very many of them, and they travel so Very 
fast, that small as they are, they manage to carry plenty 
of food, air, and other building materials to all parts of 
the body, so that it can be kept in good repair and even 
be made to grow. 



How the Blood-Boats Load and Unload 
How the Blood-Boats Load and Unload 



63 



The little blood-boats are so clever at loading and unloading, 
that they can give up all their good food and air, and take up the 
waste material and bad air in exchange, without stopping long 
enough for us to notice it. Be- 
sides, they float along so 
swiftly, that wise doctors have 
found out it takes much less 
than five minutes for the 
blood-boats to sail through 
many, many feet of tubing, 
reach the furthest part of the 
body, unload, load up again, 
and get back to their starting- 
place. 

You have heard how the 
big tube, starting from the 
heart, divides up again and 
again. The blood-ships, in- 
stead of sailing ever so many 
side by side in a broad river, 
finally have to pass single file down tiny canals. In fact some 
blood canals are so tiny, and they are so numerous, that you can 
hardly run the finest needle into any part of your body without 
piercing one of them, and thus causing blood to flow out. 




Circulation and Blood Boats 



64 Yourself 

After the pipes leading from the heart (the arteries) have 
divided up until they cannot divide any more, the blood-boats 
pass into a new set of pipes (the veins) , which do just the con- 
trary. They are tiny and numerous at first, but two keep joining 
into one, until they get bigger and bigger, as they draw near the 
heart once more. All the blood-boats which were sent out from 
the heart always come back to it after giving up their loads of 
air and food. They come back laden with bad air and refuse, 
and meet many other boats coming up from the liver and bowels 
laden with food to use. 

As you know, a ship leaving port is generally freshly painted, 
neat and clean, and fully loaded. But a ship coming back to 
port, after a long journey, often looks dingy, battered and un- 
tidy. Before it can start out on a new journey, it needs to be 
repaired, cleaned and painted,— -or overhauled as sailors 
generally call it. 

It is just the same with the little ships in our blood. They are 
clean and look bright and red when they begin their journey; 
but by the time they have carried their cargo to the place where 
it belongs, and brought back a load of refuse, they are so bat- 
tered and dirty and dingy, that the stream in which they float, in- 
stead of looking bright red, seems dark red or purplish in hue. 

In fact, the change in the color of the little blood-ships is so 
great, that people generally say that the blood which Dwarf 
Number One sends out is red while the blood which comes 
back to Dwarf Number Two is blue. 



Pumping Dwarf Number Two 

Pumping Dwarf Number Two 



65 



When the blood-ships come back dingy, worn and laden 
with refuse, the stream in which they float pours right down into 
the top room on the right side of the heart wall. When this 
room is full of blood, the second Twin 
Dwarf opens his trap-door in the floor, 
and lets it flow down into the lower room. 
This is exactly like the room on the other 
side of the wall, and Dwarf Number Two 
also has ropes to pull so that he can 
squeeze the bluish blood into a big pipe 
too. 

But, this time, it is dirty blood which 
flows out, and before it can do any more 
work it has to be cleaned. The place 
where this is done is the lungs, about 
which we will talk more further on. Just 
now, it is enough for you to know that in 
the lungs, each little ship will not only be 
cleaned and repaired, but relieved of its 
load of refuse, given nice fresh air and 
food to carry, and sent back to the Pumping Station, where 
Dwarf Number One will start it out again on a new journey. 

It is because the little blood-boats float around and around — 
in a ring as it were, or in a circuit,that people are in the habit of 




The Lungs Act Like 
Bellows 



66 Yourself 

saying that the blood circulates all through the body. They 
call this complete round made by the blood, the circulation. 

When the little Dwarfs are both in a good temper, and work 
briskly, and when the little ships are all in good repair and 
nicely loaded, the master of the house knows that all is well ; 
so he often says that his circulation is good, for he feels just 
warm enough, well and happy. 

But when the little Pumping Dwarfs are in a bad temper, 
when they do not do their work well, or when the little ships 
are not properly cleaned, repaired and loaded, the master knows 
that something is wrong; he complains that his circulation is 
poor, that he feels too cold or too hot, and is sick and unhappy. 

What Makes the Twins Cross 

It may be that some of you wonder what can make the Twin 
Pumping Dwarfs cross. Well, I can tell you. They never 
object to hard work, and will plod on, provided the master sees 
to it that there is enough good food and air to load the boats. 
The Dwarfs are even ready to work faster every once in a 
while, if their master wishes to enjoy a little run. 

But, if they have to keep on tugging at their ropes without 
getting any chance at all to snatch their wee rest between times, 
or if they are working so hard merely to send out half-laden 
blood-boats, they are very apt to get angry. 

Sometimes they send telegrams up to the master saying: 
"Here! you had better be a little careful ! It won't do to strain 



What Makes the Twins Cross 67 

this delicate machinery. It can get out of order, you know; 
and if it gets badly out of order, neither you nor the wisest doctor 
who ever lived can get it right again! Don't you think you 
ought to give us a wee chance to rest? If you don't, we may 
strike and refuse to work at all. You know that if we do not 
send fresh blood to all your servants, and to all parts of your 
house, to keep it clean and in good repair, no work can be done 
in it. It will all go to pieces, and then you will have to move 
out whether you are ready to go or not!" 

Or else they say : "Why don't you eat wholesome things and 
breathe plenty of nice fresh air? You know it is your business 
to do so, and that if you do not, the blood-boats cannot be prop- 
erly loaded. Here we are working away night and day, send- 
ing them out only half loaded! 

"They certainly are not carrying food and air enough to keep 
your servants in a good temper, neither are there building ma- 
terials enough to keep your house in good repair, let alone to 
make it as big as it should be, to suit your wants. Can't you 
use a little common sense, and look after things a little better? 
After all, you will suffer most in the end if all does not go right, 
so do try and be sensible!" 

The master should realize that what the Twin Servants say 
is perfectly true, and that as he can occupy the house only as 
long as their pumps are working nicely, he had better pay good 
attention to their warnings. If he is wise, therefore, he will see 
that there is enough good food and air to load all the blood- 



68 Yourself 

boats, and he will stop running, jumping, or overtaxing himself, 
whenever the Dwarfs call to his notice that their poor machinery 
is thumping too hard in its efforts to send the blood-boats along 
fast enough to do all the work he wishes. 

How to Treat a Cut 

The pipes leading to and from the heart, run under your 
skin in all directions. Most of the bigger pipes are so far inside 
that you cannot see them, but a few run near enough to the sur- 
face to enable you to trace their course. In all the pipes coming 
from the heart, you can generally feel, or hear, the thumping of 
the pump. 

When a doctor wishes to know whether your Pumping 
Dwarfs are in a good temper, he always lays his fingers on a cer- 
tain spot in your wrist. There he feels the blood run through a 
pipe, and he can count the strokes of the little pump. 

He knows just how many times the Dwarfs should pull their 
ropes every minute, and by "feeling your pulse," as it is called, 
he finds out whether they are doing their duty. If the pulse 
beats too fast, he knows you have been overexerting yourself, or 
that you have a fever; if it beats too slowly, that the Dwarfs 
are cross because the blood-boats are not properly loaded, or 
because there is not liquid enough to fill the little rooms as 
often as they would like. 

When you cut yourself, you can tell by the color, and especi- 



How to Treat a Cut 



69 



ally by the way it flows, whether it is nice new blood which is 
streaming from the wound, or whether it is old, used-up blood. 
If the blood is on its way from the heart and is new, it will look 
bright red and will flow in jets or spurts, each coming with the 
tug which Dwarf Number One gives to his ropes. 

In that case, you should hold the cut in such a way that the 
blood would have to run up hill to reach it from the heart. That 
will check the flow 
a trifle. 

If it is a very 
deep cut, which 
bleeds hard, hold 
your hand or finger 
over the place so as 
to stop the blood 

from flowing. Then 

. A Tourniquet 

tie, or get some one 

else to tie, a handkerchief, cord, or bandage very tightly over 
the cut. Next, run a pencil, or a bit of stick in this bandage, 
and turn it around and around in the way your mother or teacher 
will show you. Every turn you give the stick will serve to make 
the bandage tighter, and by and by, it will press so hard on the 
pipes under the skin, that it will stop the blood from flowing, 
until a clot can form, and act as a cork to stop up the hole. 

If the blood flows in jets, it is always best to send for a doc- 
tor right away, so that he can bandage the wound properly. 




70 Yourself- 

But you must always try to stop the bleeding as I have explained, 
without waiting until he comes. You must not wait for the doc- 
tor to do it, because when the blood flows in jets it has to be 
checked at once, or the wounded person may bleed to death. 

If the blood from any cut is dark red and flows evenly, you 
may be sure that it is worn out blood, on its way back to the 
heart. It does not matter so much therefore, if you do lose a 
little of that. To stop its flow you can tie a bandage in the same 
way as I described, and the blood will soon stop flowing. If 
it is a very big and deep cut, draw the two sides as closely to- 
gether as you can before you tie it up, then send for the doctor 
so that he can sew it up. 

Except in the case of very bad cuts or wounds, the blood on 
coming against the air, soon grows thick enough to form a clot 
which stops up the opening, prevents the loss of any more blood, 
and finally helps to heal the injured part, where all the little 
white boats now hurry with new building materials. 

Any child who gets a bad fall or knock, can greatly lessen the 
pain, and prevent an ugly black-and-blue mark by wetting a 
folded cloth in hot water, and laying it on the spot. The water 
must be just as hot as one can bear it, and the cloth must be 
changed very often, so as to keep very hot water all the time 
on the hurt. 

The heat brings the blood to this place, as you can easily see, 
for it gets very red. Then the little blood-boats all come rush- 
ing there in a hurry, laden with food and air, and they quickly 



How to Treat a Cut 7 1 

give up their loads. The white boats come too, and thus the 
damage is repaired as quickly as possible. 

Questions. — What is your pumping station called? Can you explain where 
the Twin Dwarfs live, and how many rooms they have? Can they see each other 
and visit each other? What does Pumping Dwarf No. 1 do with the red blood 
which pours through the trap door and fills his upper room? When the lower room 
is full of blood, what does the dwarf do? Where does this squeezed out blood go? 
How does it travel all through the body? What are the blood boats; how are 
they loaded; where do they go, and what for? Blood boats going from the heart 
are loaded with repair material; what do those coming back to the heart bring? 
Who receives the returning boats, and how and where is the dirty blood cleaned? 
What makes the Twin Dwarfs angry? When you are cut and the blood comes out 
by jerks what should be done? How should you treat a bruise? 



CHAPTER VI 

How to Air Your House 

WHEN we talked of the front door, in the beginning 
of this book, we said that air could easily come 
into the house through the mouth, and that there 
was an air-tube or stairway running down into the body just in 
front of the food tube or stairway. It is about this air, or wind- 
pipe, as it is also called, that you are going to learn to-day. 

All houses need a great deal of nice fresh air. Ordinarily 
houses can be kept full of pure air, or well ventilated, as it is 
called, if all the windows are opened wide every morning, and 
if some of them are left partly open during the rest of the time 
in the rooms where people sit or sleep. 

But your body needs fresh air every second almost. If you 
stopped breathing for more than a minute, you would feel very 
uncomfortable indeed, and if no new air at all came into your 
little house for about five minutes, you would have to move out, 
and all your body would surely die. 

Because you need air while you are eating, it is not always 
possible to breathe through the mouth. A way was therefore 
provided so that you need never fall short of your air supply. 
72 



How to Air Your House 



73 



*^5 — f 



This way is through the nose. The nose is really the chimney 
of your little house. If all is well, the two nostrils, — air-pas- 
sages, or pipes in your nose, — are always wide open. The air 
from outside rushes into these narrow passages, which open 
down into your throat. 

The air on coming into these passages is warmed a little, and 
as it passes through the fine hairs 
growing inside the nostrils, all 
the bits of dust, and little shreds 
of cotton and down are caught 
fast, and not allowed to go down 
into the body. They are not 
wanted there, and would do 
much mischief, so the little hairs The Nose 

arp nlwavQ nrt cmarrl tn nrpwnfr a. Nerve of smell at the base of the 

are always on guaru iu prevent braln b Air spaces ln the skull bones 

. . , r - n ,, . , c. Branches of the nerves of smell, d. 

their going down. The air also TtMft s «hf ea b r on \ iit?&l 

, . ,, g. Upper jaw-bone. 

passes over wet cushions, all 

covered with fine skin; under this skin run many, many little 
nerves. They keep close watch over every breath of air that 
comes in, and telegraph up to the big central station, in the top 
of the head, reporting just how this air feels to them. 

Because these tiny nerves enable people to smell, they are 
very useful indeed. Any air which smells bad, is sure not to be 
good for the body. If the air smells fresh and clean, it is just 
right. Strongly perfumed air, even when we like the odor, is not 
good for us. Some people may be strong enough to bear it 




74 Yourself 

without great discomfort, but strong smells of any kind, are 
very likely to make babies or sickly people very ill. 

About Choking 

When the air has been sifted by the fine hairs, and tried by 
passing over the moist cushions in the nostrils, it is allowed to 
turn down into the back of the mouth and rush down the throat, 
or windpipe. That always stands wide open, except when 
food has to pass over it on its way to the food staircase. 

Then, as you know, the little door keeper at the head of the 
windpipe shuts his trap-door, for nothing but air is wanted down 
in the windpipe. 

Sometimes, when people talk or laugh while they are eat- 
ing, or when they are not careful, both air and food try to get 
down-stairs at the same time. This always makes trouble, for 
if the little trap-door is not tightly closed when food passes over 
it, a few crumbs are likely to tumble down into the windpipe. 

When this happens, there is a big fuss down there. The 
gatekeeper is frightened, for he knows that if any food gets 
down into the breathing room, the lungs or bellows of the body 
won't be able to use it or get rid of it, and that will make them 
so sore and uncomfortable that they may stop work entirely. 

He therefore quickly sends a telegram down the windpipe, 
which is all lined with hundreds of little fans or whips. As 
soon as news is received that something is coming down which 



About Choking, 75 

is not wanted there, all these little fans or whips begin to fan or 
whip upward. 

The crumb or dust is therefore caught on its way downward, 
and fanned, or batted, up-stairs again. But all this causes such 
a to-do in the windpipe, that you hear a noise like coughing or 
choking. This is kept up, until the stray bit of food or dust has 
been driven right out of the windpipe again. 

Very little children, who are too small to understand all that 
you have learned about the air and food pipes, often talk or 
laugh while they are eating. Then they choke. In their dis- 
tress they generally double up and bend over forward while they 
are coughing. This is not best for them, because the straighter 
the windpipe is kept, the quicker the little fans or whips can 
bat the crumbs or dust out again. 

Grown people, therefore, often point quickly up at the ceil- 
ing, saying: "Oh! Look at the little bird!" Most children are 
so eager to see a bird, that although they may be coughing very 
hard they quickly tip their heads back to look up. 

This is the very best thing which can happen, for the crumb 
and dust can then fly right up, and the coughing stops. It is only 
when looking up won't answer, that one should slap a choking 
child on the back. Then, a pretty hard thump will help to drive 
the stuff up again, but as children do not understand why you 
slap them, this always seems rather an unkind way to end the 
trouble. 

You may think that it is very wrong to say: "See the bird up 



76 Yourself 

there!" when you know perfectly well that there is no bird near 
the ceiling at all. But in a case like this, you are merely fooling 
the child for a minute for his own good. Most children too 
small to understand why you made them look up, will be quite 
satisfied if you say: "Oh, can't you see any bird? I don't 
see any either, so perhaps it has gone away." 

When they are a little older, they will understand that it was 
not really a lie you told, and they will be glad to make use of this 
simple plan to save some other poor little tot from the pain 
which a bad choking fit often causes. 

When I was too small to understand about the food pipe and 
the windpipe, my papa used to help me by making me look up 
for the little bird, and when I asked why I coughed so hard, 
he used to say in fun, if it had happened on a week day: "Per- 
haps it was because you made a mistake and tried to swallow 
down your Sunday throat!" If it happened on a Sunday, he 
always said: "Hello, why do you try to use your week day 
throat on Sunday?" 

This always made me laugh and thus kept me from crying. 
But just as soon as I grew big enough to understand, I was told 
all about the pipes, and learned that the Sunday and week day 
throat story was only a bit of nice fun and nonsense. 

The Speaking Dwarf 

In the place in your throat where you can feel a lump, there 
is a kind of box. All across this box are stretched elastic cords, 



The Speaking Dwarf 



77 



called muscles. We will make believe that a Speaking Dwarf 
lives in this box, and pulls these muscles apart to let the air in. 
Then he draws them more or less shut when the air comes out. 
If the master has nothing to say, the Dwarf leaves the muscles 
open, so that the air can pass in and out freely. But if the master 
wants to talk, the Dwarf quickly places the muscles in such a 
way that the air shakes them 
more or less hard. 

Now those muscles are very 
like an elastic band, which 
you twang when it is tightly 
stretched. You know that 
such bands give forth different 
sounds, according to the way 
in which they are stretched. 
The Speaking Dwarf is so 
very clever, that he knows just 
exactly how to handle these 
muscles or bands, so as to give 
the kinds of sounds his master 
wishes. 

If the air which comes The Speaking Dwarf 

down into the speaking-box is very cold or damp, it is bad for 
these delicate muscles. It often makes them so sore, that they 
get red and swollen. When such a thing happens, the Speak- 
ing Dwarf can no longer make them give out nice clear sounds, 




78 Yourself 

and then people often say: "How very hoarse that child is! 
Why, she must have a sore throat." 

If you want to save trouble and stay well, you should always 
keep your mouth shut, and breathe only through your nose. 
Then, no dust, no food, and no damp or cold air can get down 
into your speaking-box, to make the muscles sore. But if you 
cannot breathe easily through your nose, you really ought to see 
a doctor; he will find out what is wrong and perhaps he can set 
it right. 

After passing through the speaking-box, the air goes still fur- 
ther down the tube. Near the bone, which you can feel across 
the top of your chest, and which is called the collar-bone, this 
tube divides into two branches, both of which lead down into 
the lungs, which are fine bellows. 

The lungs (or lights as the butcher calls them), are two big 
lumps of pink, sponge-like flesh. They fill up all the space in- 
side the chest which is not taken up by the heart, or by the tubes 
which we have already talked about. 

You have surely seen how a dry sponge can suck up water, 
and swell out bigger and bigger, the more water it holds. Well, 
the lungs act very much in the same manner, only they suck up 
air. When you draw as long a breath as you can, your lungs 
suck up so much air, and swell out so big, that your chest is not 
large enough to hold them, and has to widen out as far as it can. 

Whenever your chest spreads out in that way, some bones, 
called ribs (which you can feel), rise up a little to give more 



Where the Blood-Boats Get Their Air 79 

room. A big band of muscle, which divides the chest into an 
upper and lower story, and stretches between the heart and lungs 
above, and the stomach and liver beneath, flattens out when you 
draw a long breath. Of course, that helps to make more space 
for the lungs; but, at the same time it crowds the stomach, liver 
and bowels further downward. Then, the skin over the abdo- 
men, or belly, has to stretch a little so as to make room enough 
for them. If your clothes are as loose as they should be, you 
can easily feel your chest and sides swell out, whenever you 
draw in just as much air as you can hold. 

If you want to have a fine broad chest, so that you can sing, 
speak, walk, and run, well and easily, it is a good plan to take as 
long breaths as you can, whenever you are sure the air is good 
and pure. 

A person who breathes nothing but pure air, draws deep 
breaths as often as possible, and who never wears clothes tight 
enough to prevent the chest and sides from swelling out as much 
as they please, is sure to be very strong and well, unless some- 
thing else is very wrong somewhere in his little house. 

Where the Blood-Boats Get Their Air 

The air, which rushes down into the lungs, fills every one of 
the little holes in them. All around these small holes there is a 
fine network of tiny little tubes. In these little tubes float the 
blood-boats all laden with bad air, and refuse. As they pass 



80 Yourself 

along they cleverly unload all the bad air, get rid of their refuse, 
and take good air in exchange. 

They do this so very quickly and neatly, that by the time you 
cannot hold your breath any longer, all the boats then in the 
lungs are ready to sail back to the heart, from where they will 
begin a new journey. Then the band of muscle which had 




The Child and Her Loyal Servants 

been forced down, springs back again, like an elastic when you 
let go of it, and as it rises and the ribs sink, the lungs are squeezed 
so that they can no longer hold all the air in them, and blow it 
up-stairs again. 



Where the Blood-Boats Get Their Air 81 

As the lungs have given a large part of the good air to the 
little blood-boats, and taken bad air and refuse in exchange, 
they are very glad to get rid of it in this way. 

When the bad air and the refuse is sent up the windpipe, all 
the little whips help to drive it out of the body through the 
mouth and nose. We know that this air is no longer good and 
fresh, because if you breathe into a bottle, in which a live mouse, 
or bird, or other small animal has been placed, the bad air soon 
makes them faint, and if they were left in it they would surely 
die. 

All the air we breathe out contains a kind of gas which is bad 
for us, but which the plants suck up greedily as long as there is 
any light or sunshine. The plants, you know, are alive too, but 
while we breathe with our lungs only, they breathe all over, 
through wee openings in their stems and leaves. They not only 
eat up the air bad for us, but give out air good for us. In that 
way, all plants and animals — for men are animals you know — 
keep up an exchange as long as they live. 

Doctors say that every time you take a good long breath, you 
take in about half a barrelful of good air. So, of course, every 
time you let it out again, you throw out half a barrelful of bad 
air. 

Besides the gas which is bad for you, but good for plants, you 
throw out a little water every time you breathe, as you can see 
by breathing against a pane of glass or a mirror. The water you 
breathe out is like very fine steam. On a cold day you can see 



82 Yourself 

this vapor, but you never notice it when the air out of doors is 
nearly as warm as your breath. 

You cannot see the bad gas at any time; you can see the 
refuse water only sometimes, and you cannot see the rest of the 
waste given off by the lungs, because it is much finer than the 
dust which you see dancing in a sunbeam. Still, you can smell 
the bad gas, and you can feel it. If you come from out of doors 
into a closed room where many people are sitting, you will notice 
right away how bad the air smells, and that it makes you pant 
and gasp just as if you had been running. 

If you are sitting in a room where the air becomes bad, you 
may not notice it by the smell, but your cheeks will soon get red 
and hot, you will feel sleepy and stupid, and your head will 
ache. All this is because there is not fresh air enough in the 
room to keep your blood-boats nicely loaded, and because all the 
servants down below are grumbling hard, and giving you a head- 
ache, so as to call your attention to the fact that something is 
wrong. 

You know that your Pumping Dwarfs cannot go and open a 
window, or run out of doors where there is plenty of air to be 
had ! But if the master of the house is wise, he looks after his 
servants' comfort, by paying great attention to the kind of air he 
breathes. He also keeps a window open in his room at night, 
changes the air in the house often by opening both door and win- 
dows wide, and never stays in a place where he feels that the air 
is bad. 



How Bad Air Kills 83 

Some people, who do not know about the little blood-boats, 
the big bellows, and the Pumping Dwarfs, fancy that as long 
as you can breathe at all, everything is all right. They seldom 
open their windows, and were it not that fresh air will steal in 
through every crack in the doors, floors, windows and walls, 
and that it rushes up and down the chimneys, these foolish peo- 
ple would soon contrive to kill themselves. 

As it is, they are not nearly as healthy, strong, or happy, as 
they would be if they had plenty of fresh air; neither can they 
study or work half as well, or enjoy their play as much. In 
fact, all doctors will tell you that bad air not only makes people 
feel badly, but makes them very cross, stupid and sometimes 
even wicked. They say that even little children are often fret- 
ful and naughty, merely because their poor little bodies do not 
get enough fresh air. 

How Bad Air Kills 

Once upon a time, during a war in India, one hundred and 
forty-six English prisoners were locked up in a place, so very 
small, that there was scarcely room enough for them to stand 
up in it. They were driven into this room at the sword's point 
and then the door was shut tight. 

It is very hot in India, and as there were only two windows 
at one end of this room, the captives breathed up all the good air 
in a very few seconds. Then they began to pant and gasp, 



84 



Yourself 



struggled to get near the windows, and tried to break down the 
strong door; but all in vain. 

They were kept until morning in this awful place, which 
was known as the Black Hole. When the guards opened the 
door, all but twenty-three of the poor prisoners had died from 




Black Hole at Calcutta 

lack of air, and these twenty-three were so weak and ill that 
they never got perfectly well again. 

You can see by this true story, how very dangerous it is to 
stay in places where the air cannot be changed often enough. 
Even if you do not die, like these poor prisoners, you are 
breathing bad air, the very air your lungs blew out as unfit for 



use. 



How Bad Air Kills 85 

You would rightly think it horrid if any one tried to drink 
dirty water or to eat swill, but it is just as nasty to breathe bad 
air, even though you cannot see how bad it looks. 

Now there are many people in this world, who are very clean 
and particular about everything, except about the air they 
breathe. Some of these people are afraid to open the windows 
and change the air, because they say they catch cold so easily. 
But if they opened their windows often enough, and breathed 
nothing but fresh air, they would soon grow so much stronger 
that they would cease to catch cold so easily. They get sick, 
simply because the little blood-boats cannot get enough air to 
carry to all the different parts of the body so as to keep them in 
first-class order. 

People who breathe the same air over and over again, are, 
besides, running the risk of catching some dreadful disease. 
For, with the air, the lungs blow out tiny seeds or germs of sick- 
ness. These are far too small to be seen, and if there were 
plenty of fresh air in the room, they would rise up to the ceiling, 
float out of the windows, be caught up by the wind, 
and carried high up in the air, where the hot sun would 
soon kill them. 

If these germs cannot get out of the room, they are apt to be 
drawn into the lungs of any person who is not very well. There 
they are sure to grow, and to make that person very ill with 
scarlet fever, diphtheria, or whatever the disease may be. If the 
person does not catch the disease, it is only because the little 




Plenty of Fresh Air When You Sleep 



86 



How Bad Air Kills 87 

blood-boats can still manage to carry enough good air to keep 
the body well. 

The worst air in any room is always near the ceiling and near 
the floor, and the best in the space between. That is the reason 
why it is far wiser never to sleep on the floor or on too low a bed. 
But if you open your windows top and bottom, all the bad air in 
the room can escape, while fresh air takes its place. 

Little babies suffer even more from bad air than older chil- 
dren, so if you want your little brothers and sisters to thrive, you 
should always be willing to take them out whenever mamma 
wishes. If they are out every nice sunny day, and if the room 
in which they play or sleep is always well aired, they will be 
rosy and happy, and will be much easier to manage. 

Of course, babies catch cold very easily, and must therefore 
be carefully guarded from all draughts; but if the air they 
breathe is always pure, they are far less likely to take cold. 
Whenever it is too stormy to take baby out, you should carry 
him into another room while you open the windows wide. 

If for any reason you have to stay in one room only, you can 
wrap baby up, just as if you were going to take him out, and 
then throw the windows and door wide open. In a few min- 
utes the room will be well aired, and if you remove baby's 
wraps, little by little, after the windows are all closed, he will 
not be chilly, and you will both feel much brighter for the 
change of air. 

Very few children, even among the rich, get air enough, 



88 Yourself 

and still air is free to everybody, and does not cost a cent. 
The poorest person who ever lived can have all the air there is, 
if only willing to take the trouble to get it. If you live in a 
crowded city, it is not as easy to get fresh air as if you live out 
in the country. But even in the city, houses have doors and 
windows, and people can generally go up on the flat roofs. 
Besides, all who can walk, can go out into the parks, where 
good pure air can always be found. 

The Need of Air 

Sick people need a great deal of fresh air; the more they 
get, the quicker they are likely to be well again. Still, in some 
sicknesses, one has to be very careful not to let the cold air 
blow in upon the bed, although the patient must have fresh 
air all the time. To make sure of this, you can either open the 
window in the next room (keeping the door open between), or 
you can tack some thin cloth over an old fly screen, set it in the 
window frame, and open the window. The air can then sift 
slowly through the cloth, and you will thus secure enough 
without hurting even a sick person. 

There was once a doctor, who had a dear little girl. She 
met with a terrible accident, which hurt her back so badly, that 
she had to sit still all the time. She could move her hands 
and arms a little, but was unable to go out to drive, or to be 
rolled around in a chair or carriage, because the least little jar 
made her suffer greatly. 



The Need of Air 89 

Her father loved her very dearly, took the best care of her, 
and gave her everything that love or money could find to 
please her. She had a beautiful room, nurses who watched 
over her night and day, and the best food and medicine. 

In spite of all this, the poor little maid grew thinner and 
thinner, and paler and paler, until her father's heart ached. 
One day he found her as white as a sheet, and so cross and 
hard to please that the nurse said with tears in her eyes: "What 
shall I do, sir, nothing suits her, nothing amuses her, and she 
cries nearly all the time!" 

The father, almost in despair, said: "Poor little thing, it is 
because she has been shut up in the house so long. If she 
could only go out driving, it would be much better, for then 
she could have plenty of sun and air." 

Looking out of the window while he spoke, the thought 
suddenly came to him that if his little daughter were carried 
out into the garden every day it might yet do her good. 

So he had a nice little corner fixed up for her, and had her 
carried out there every fine day. At first, she stayed out only 
for a couple of hours, in the middle of the day; but when her 
father noticed that she always seemed more comfortable, and 
was less hard to amuse when out of doors than when in the 
house, he let her stay there all day long. 

By the end of summer, the color had come back to her 
cheeks, and she was a very different little girl from the white- 
faced, peevish one I have told you about. 



90 Yourself 

But her father was troubled whenever he thought of the 




The Little Invalid in the Garden 

coming winter. Finally he decided to try a new experiment. 
He had a nice fur coat and hood made for his little daughter; 



The Need of Air 91 

bought her fur mittens, and wrapped her up in thick fur rugs. 
Then bottles of hot water were tucked in here and there around 
her to keep her warm. Thus, she was able to sit out in the 
garden even on the coldest winter days. 

With all her books and playthings around her, she was very 
happy out there, and as it was much too cold for her nurse to sit 
beside her, she told her to run into the house, and spent a good 
part of the time there alone, playing by herself. Of course, 
some one was always very near by, ready to come whenever 
she called, or rang her little silver bell, and her papa always 
stopped for a little chat with her on his way to and from his 
carriage, so that she should not feel lonely. 

The doctor's neighbors, who had been away all summer, 
and who did not suppose that the poor child would ever be 
out again, were greatly surprised to see her lying out there in 
the garden when they looked out of their windows one day late 
in the fall. 

They were surprised and greatly shocked when they noticed 
that she was all alone a good part of the time. Soon they 
began to say that it was dreadfully cruel to neglect a poor sick 
child in that way, and to leave her outdoors so late in the sea- 
son. But every fine day the little maid was carried out there, 
and as it grew colder and colder, the neighbors became more 
and more indignant. 

When the first snow began to fall, and no one came to carry 
her into the house, these neighbors could not stand it any longer, 



92 Yourself 

and one of them ran over to the doctor's office crying indig- 
nantly: "How can you treat that poor helpless child so cruel- 
ly?" The doctor gently asked her what she meant, and 
when she had explained, he smiled and said: "You saw my 
little daughter last winter, when we always kept her in a nice 
warm room and never let a breath of cold air blow upon her. 
Do you remember how pale and weak she was, how she cried 
and fretted, how poorly she slept, how little she ate, and how 
much trouble it was to amuse her or make her smile?" 

" Yes, indeed!" said the woman, "and I admired your pa- 
tience. I used to say you were the kindest father I had ever 
seen! And now, to think of your treating the poor little thing 
so, leaving her out there alone in the snow!" 

"Well, come out there with me, and see whether you think 
I had better have her taken in," was all the answer the doctor 
gave her. 

They went out together, and when the lady drew near 
enough to see the child plainly, she was amazed to perceive 
a laughing, rosy-cheeked, bright-eyed little face peep out from 
all those furs, and to hear a merry little voice cry out: "Oh, 
papa! It is too lovely for anything to be out in a snow-storm! 
Just look at all these pretty white stars clinging to my furs. A 
snowflake fell right into my mouth just a minute ago, and see, I 
have gathered nearly enough snow to make a ball to throw at 
you. You did not know I was going to snowball you, did you, 
papa? 



The Need of Sunshine 93 

"No indeed, and if you do, perhaps I'll get some snow too, 
and wash your face," said her papa laughingly. "But aren't 
you cold, little daughter, and don't you want to come in?" 

"Oh, no, papa, please, please let me stay out a little longer. 
It is such fun ! Besides, this is nice dry snow, it cannot hurt me 
one bit, and I am just as warm as toast!" 

A few minutes later the doctor took the lady back to his 
office, where he said: "Well, madam, do you really think I 
had better coop that child up in the house again, as I did last 
winter?" 

"No, no indeed!" cried the lady. "Why, I never saw such 
a change in my life! And you say that the only medicine you 
have given her is plenty of fresh air and sunshine? I declare, 
I am going to try that medicine on my children too. I thought 
it was far too cold to let them go out, and I meant to keep them 
in all winter, because they are very delicate, but if a crippled 
child can sit outdoors all day, I guess a walk won't do them 
any harm!" 

The lady went home to try the new remedy, and saw her 
little ones thrive like plants, for children too, need plenty of air 
and sunshine. 

The Need of Sunshine 

In our last pages we said that if people, and children espec- 
ially, wish to be well, they must get plenty of sunshine as well 
as plenty of fresh air. That reminds me of a funny story I once 
heard. 



94 



Yourself 



A wise doctor was once called to see a little girl who looked 
very pale and ill. She did not care to run about and play, and 
was so quiet and sad that her mamma was greatly troubled 
about her. After some time the doctor found out that the child 
was all right, but that her mother and nurse kept her bundled 
up so closely, and shaded so carefully, that the sun never had 

a chance to warm her skin. 
He had preached fresh air 
and sunshine many a time, but 
the mother had not understood 
what he meant. She had 
sent her little daughter out of 
doors, but sunbonnets, veils 
and parasols, had kept every 
ray of sun away from the 
poor little thing. 

There was a beautiful rose- 
bush in the garden which this 
little girl loved dearly, and the 
doctor, — who was "such a 
funny man" — suddenly pro- 
posed to dress that bush up in 
one of her suits of clothes. 
The little girl thought this fine fun, although they had consid- 
erable trouble in getting all the garments on and around the 
poor rose-bush, which looked very queer all dressed up in its 




Children and Roses Need 
Sunshine 



The Need of Sunshine 95 

little mistress's garments! When they had finished, the doc- 
tor laughed and said: "Just let those things stay on the rose- 
bush until I come again." 

A few days later, when the doctor and the little girl visited 
the rose-bush again, they found it withered and nearly dead. 
"Why! what does this mean?" said the doctor, making believe 
to be greatly surprised. 

"It means that my poor rose-bush is dead!" cried the little 
girl. "Of course, the poor thing could not live without sun- 
shine!" 

"Neither can you," said the doctor. "You need sunshine 
too, or you will never be strong and happy. See, your rose- 
bush pined away after wearing all your clothes only a few 
days." 

Both the little girl and her mother then understood what 
the doctor had been trying to tell them. After that the little 
girl was sent out of doors with no more wraps than other chil- 
dren, the sun was allowed to pour into the nursery where she 
played, and in summer, she ran along the beach barefooted and 
bareheaded, and took even more sun baths than dips into the 
sea. The result was that she was soon brown and rosy, full of 
fun and spirits, as hungry as a healthy child should be, and that 
she played all day and slept all night as hard as she could. 

Sun and air are so good for everybody, that many sick peo- 
ple are now given sun and air baths so as to help them to get 
well. In fact, some people are kept out of doors nearly all the 



96 



Yourself 



time, especially when they are troubled with weak lungs; and 
many a weak-lunged person has been quite cured by sleeping 
in a tent, and sitting out of doors all day long, in some place 
where the climate is both cold and dry. It is because sun and 




Pure Dry Air at the Mountains 



air are so good for such people, that doctors often send them to 
live in the Adirondack or other mountains, or out in Colorado, 
where cloudy days are very few. 

QUESTIONS. — Since the Pumping Dwarfs need plenty of air to keep your blood 
clean, how can you get enough in your house? Where is the air, or wind pipe? 
Is it best to breathe through your mouth or your nose, and why? Should a crumb 
get into your windpipe by accident, what happens? Where does the Speaking 
Dwarf live and what makes him hoarse? When the air has passed Speaking 
Dwarf's box, where does it go? What fills all the little holes in the lungs like 
water fills a sponge? When your lungs are just as full as they can hold of air, how 
do chest, ribs, and muscle band act? Why are blood-boats waiting at every little 
hole in the lungs? Where does their load of bad air go? Is bad air a poison for 
men, animals and plants? Can very bad air kill, and should one ever breathe it 
unnecessarily? Where is the worst air in a room? Can you tell the stories that show 
how plenty of air and sunshine are good for even sick children ? 



CHAPTER VII 
The Framework of Your House 

EVERY house has some kind of a frame, although you 
often cannot see it after the house is all finished. There 
is also a frame to your body, which you can feel, 
although it is all covered over so that you cannot see it. 

As you know, the framework of a house is made of wood 
or iron beams; but your framework is all made of bone. If all 
the skin and flesh which cover and hide your bones were taken 
away, there would be nothing but the bone frame, or skeleton, 
left. 

Every one has a bone frame to keep the soft parts of his body 
in good shape, and to protect the delicate parts. If you look at 
the picture of a skeleton, you will see that the skull is a kind 
of a bone box, made to hold the brain. The chest is a bone 
cage, made to protect your heart and lungs; and there is a sort 
of bone basin, made on purpose to hold the bowels, etc. 

If we mention the backbone, — which is really a string of lit- 
tle bones, fitted nicely together, — the bones of the legs and 
arms, and of the hands and feet, we have spoken of all the prin- 
cipal beams in our bodies. 
97 



98 



Yourself 



Still there are many different bones, and if you come to count 
them all separately, little and big, you will find about two hun- 
dred. Each of these bones has its own name, its own place, 
and its own use. Doctors know just where these bones are, 
what they do, and how to mend them when they are broken 
or out of joint. Besides, they know just what makes good and 
bad bones, and if called in time, they can often straighten 

crooked bones, and make 
sick bones well. 

Even when you were a 
wee baby, so small and so 
soft that one hardly dared 
to touch you, all your bones 
were there. But they were 
not big and strong and hard 
as they are now. They were 
very small, and so soft that 
they could easily bend. 

Bones keep growing big- 
ger and harder, longer and 
stronger, from babyhood until you are about twenty-five years 
old. It is only then, that the framework of human houses is 
really finished, and that they cease to grow. Still, as long as 
we live, our bones are alive, and need the air and food which 
the blood-boats bring them night and day. 

Bones are made of a tough animal material which can bend 




The Framework of a House and 
of Your Fore-Arm 



The Framework of Your House 99 

easily. In the wee open spaces between this material, there are 
stored away the mineral parts, which make bones hard and brit- 
tle. We know that bones are thus queerly made, and you can 
prove it for yourself, if you choose to make the following ex- 
periments. 

Take a chicken, or any other kind of a bone, put it in the 
fire and let it stay there about three hours, or until all the fat, 
or animal part, is burned up. Then take it out of the fire, very 
gently and carefully, and you will see that it looks much the 
same, but is all full of little holes. If you strike this bone with 
a hammer, it will fall into dust, for now that the animal part is 
burned away, there is nothing left to hold the mineral parts in 
place. 

Now, take another bone, soak it three days in muriatic acid. 
Then, all the mineral part of this bone will be eaten up by the 
acid, and nothing but the animal part left. A bone which has 
been treated in this way, can easily be bent in any shape you 
please. It is so supple, that you can even tie it in a knot, but 
you cannot break it, because it is still very tough, although it 
has ceased to be brittle. 

Baby's Bones 

Because soft bones can so easily be bent, we ought to be very 
careful to keep our bones straight as long as they are soft. That 
is one reason why babies must be handled with so much care. 



100 



Yourself 



All their bones are so very soft and tender, that they can readily 
be bent out of the right shape. 

It is because a baby's bones bend so easily, that it is never 
wise to let him stand too soon. But some grown people are very 
foolish, and keep coaxing baby to stand, long before his poor 

little legs are really 
strong enough to bear 
his weight. Thus, his 
soft bones are bent a lit- 
tle, and baby grows up 
bow-legged. 

Babies who are 
strong and light, can 
often stand and walk 
without hurting them- 
selves when they are 
only nine or ten months 
old. But a weak, fat, 
or heavy baby, should 
not be expected or en- 
couraged to walk until 
very much later. In 
fact, it is very much better for most babies not to try to walk until 
they are a year and a half old, for until then their bones are often 
not strong enough to hold them up without bending a little. 
Baby will Want to stand and walk just as soon as he feels 




Learning to Walk 



Baby's Bones 101 

strong enough to do so. Therefore, you must not coax or urge 
him, until he is quite ready. It is also because a baby's bones 
are soft, and bend easily without breaking, that you seldom 
hear of broken bones among very little children. 

Although, as you know, the wee tots are always falling, they 
seldom get badly hurt. Still, one should never drop a baby, 
or bump his head because lifelong injuries are the result of such 
accidents. 

The bones forming baby's head are not only very soft, but 
they do not join together, until he is nearly three years old. It 
is because the bones are not joined at first, that baby has a "soft 
spot" on the top of his little head. 

You have surely been told to be careful always to touch that 
spot very, very gently. In that place, baby's tender little brain 
is not protected by any bone. A blow or knock there, or even 
a rough touch, might hurt the baby's brain so badly, that he 
might become very ill, or be an idiot all his days. You see 
now, why your mamma is so very gentle with the baby, and 
why she guards that "soft spot" with such loving care. 

Young bones can so easily take a wrong shape, that mothers 
and teachers have to keep very close watch over the children 
to prevent their growing up crooked. Now, many children 
think it is just fussiness when older people keep reminding 
them to sit up straight, to stand on both feet, to hold their heads 
up, to throw their shoulders back, and not to twist their feet 
around chair legs. 



102 Yourself 

But, mothers and teachers know that if you sit a few hours 
every day, with one arm on the desk and the other in your lap, 
your poor backbone will be all twisted. If it gets in the habit 
of twisting in this way, it will soon stay so, and then you will 
be deformed when you grow up. 

There are some people in the world who are deformed and 
cannot help it. Some of them were born so, with others 
it is the result of some accident, or of some disease. But 
a child who grows up crooked, simply because he is careless, or 
who wilfully bends his nice straight bones into wrong shapes, 
is acting in a very wrong way, and will be very sorry later on. 

How to Keep Straight Bones 

In early childhood, the bones are so soft that they can bend 
almost any way we please. By ten, most children have the 
habit of sitting or standing in certain ways. If these habits are 
good, their bones are growing straight. But if the habits are 
bad, their bones are already a little crooked, and will go on 
growing more and more so, every day the wrong habits are 
kept up. 

Every child who reads this book ought to stop and think 
whether he generally sits, and stands, and moves as he should. 
Does your mother or teacher have to tell you, many times a 
day, "Stand up straight," "Sit up in your chair," "Don't loll 
about," etc., etc.? If you hear these words often, you may be 
sure you are not treating your bones as you should. 



How to Keep Straight Bones 



103 



I have seen careful mothers who were always reminding 
their children to hold themselves properly. These mothers 
thought of the future, and were anxious to have their children 
grow up with strong, straight frameworks for their bodies. But 
I have seen those very chil- 
dren obey in a half-hearted 
way, and sink back into the 
wrong position just as soon as 
mother's back was turned. 

Some children, when re- 
minded of this matter often get 
very cross indeed, and say or 
think: "Oh, dear, I do wish 
mother would let me alone! 
She does worry so about how 
I stand or sit. I li\e to sit 
crooked. What difference 
does it make to her? I don't 
care how I look." 

No, you may not care one bit 
now, but when it is too late, 
when your bones have grown 
quite crooked, and when noth- 
ing can straighten them again, you will wish you had acted very 
differently, and you will say: "Oh! why didn't they ma\e 
me do it whether I wanted to or not?" 




Learn to Sit Properly 



104 Yourself 

Now, if parents and teachers could give all their time to this 
one thing only, they might be able to make the children sit and 
stand correctly nearly all the time; but then, you see, they 
would have no chance to do anything else! How much wiser 
it would be, therefore, if every little house owner made up his 
mind, right now, to watch over this matter himself, and to see 
that his beams have no chance to be anything but straight and 
strong in the end. 

The master in your house can easily look after the frame- 
work all the time, if he only chooses to do so. He can send tele- 
grams all over the building, and his servants will be sure to 
obey any orders they receive. Then, every one will say: "See, 
so-and-so has a fine, graceful figure! Just look what a straight 
back he has! See how well he carries himself, and how easily 
he moves. He is a finely built fellow ! " 

This is much more pleasant than to hear some one remark: 
"Did you ever see such a crooked person as so-and-so? He 
moves about in such an awkward way, that I cannot bear to look 
at him!" 

The Crooked Tree 

There is a very old proverb which says: "As the twig 
is bent, the tree is inclined." This proverb is very true, as the 
following story will show you. In an orchard there was once a 
very crooked tree; so crooked, that instead of growing straight 



The Crooked Tree 



105 



up into the air like all the rest, it bent far over until its trunk was 
almost lying along the ground. 

One day, when the farmer and his son were in the orchard 
together, the boy noticed that crooked tree and asked his father 
why he did not cut it down. 




Straight and Crooked Trees 

"Oh, I don't want to do that," said the farmer, "for it bears 
such fine apples!" 

"Well, then, father, you really ought to straighten it, for it 
spoils the looks of this nice orchard!" answered the son. 

"Yes," said the farmer, "it is a pity to have such a crooked 



106 Yourself 

tree in this orchard. You are quite right, my son, we must 
straighten it up." 

So he sent for a man with a team of strong horses and bade 
him bring along chains and ropes. But after trying a long time, 
and all in vain, the man said: "It is no use, sir! That tree can 
never be straightened again. It has grown crooked. If you 
wanted a straight tree, you should have seen to it some years 
ago, when it was young. Then, a child could easily have bent 
it this way or that. Now, all the teams in the world could not 
pull it straight!" 

This man was quite right, you see, and the proverb is right 
too. If you want young trees to grow up straight, you must 
watch them, and when they show any signs of leaning over, tie 
them to stout stakes. Those will hold them up until they have 
grown strong and upright. That is the way to have nice trees! 

Now, boys and girls are very much like young trees, only as 
they do not keep still, they cannot be tied to stakes. But if boys 
and girls watch themselves, train themselves to sit up straight, 
always stand on both feet, hold their shoulders back, their 
knees straight, and their heads up, their bones will be sure to 
grow in the right way. 

So, boys and girls, help your parents and teachers all you 
can, instead of hindering them as you do, and remember that 
it is not "nagging," but great kindness, when some one reminds 
you that you are not holding yourself properly. 

You should also help your younger brothers and sisters to 



How to Have Good Bones 1 07 

keep their bones in the right shape, and bear in mind at all 
times how very careful you should be with the baby's bones, 
because they are the most tender of all. 

Some of you may have had very bad habits until now, but 
you can change them, for it is not yet too late. Most of your 
bones grow until you are twenty, so, many of them can still be 
straightened out, even if they are a little out of shape when you 
are ten or twelve years old. But you will doubtless find that it 
takes a great deal of hard trying every day, and all day, to get 
rid of bad habits and to form good ones. Still, when good 
habits are formed, and the bad ones are quite forgotten, you 
will be able to trust your servants to keep them up, for they 
will do whatever you really wish. 

It is the duty of every boy or girl to see that his or her frame- 
work is just as good and straight as it can be made. When you 
grow up, you will be very glad to have strong, good-looking 
houses rather than tumble-down shanties. In fact, some bodies 
are so fine and strong and well-cared for, that they deserve to 
be called temples, while others are so neglected, crooked, and 
ugly, that they no longer look like God's handiwork at all. 

How to Have Good Bones 

Most of our bones are hollow. That is what makes them 
light and strong at the same time. In the hollow there is some 
fat, called marrow, in and through which run many little veins, 
along which the blood-boats travel night and day. 



108 Yourself 

All the bones of the body are made to fit nicely together. 
The place where two or more bones join together is called a 
joint. You all can surely point to your finger, elbow, and knee- 
joints, can you not? If a bone slips out of the place where it 
belongs, we say it is "out of joint." 

Whenever this happens, it always causes pain. The best 
thing to do then is to keep perfectly quiet until the doctor comes. 
If the hurt is very bad, and is in your hand or foot, you can hold 
it in a basin of hot water. If elsewhere, put cloths dipped in 
hot water upon the aching part, and keep changing them often. 
This will lessen the pain, will prevent swelling, and the heat 
will quickly bring the blood-boats there to repair any damages. 

If a fall or blow results in a broken bone, you should also 
keep very still until the doctor comes. But if the accident hap- 
pens out of doors, when the weather is too cold for you to stay 
quiet, those who are with you should help, or carry you home, 
holding the broken parts firmly together, to prevent the bones 
from slipping any further out of place, or from running through 
the skin. 

Hot water on a broken bone is also the easiest remedy until 
the doctor comes; but you should send for him right away, for 
the sooner the bone is set, the sooner the blood-boats can set to 
work to mend it by bringing new materials. 

Broken bones generally grow together again in a month or 
six weeks, and if one keeps quite still, and minds all the doctor's 
orders, they will be just as good as new. Any neglect of the 



How to Have Good Bones 1 09 

doctor's orders, or using a broken limb too soon, is sure to pre- 
vent the bone from healing properly. 

When a bone does not heal aright, the limb proves more or 
less useless, and sometimes doctors have to break the same bone 
over again to get it straight and well once more. As this is 
even more painful than the first break, it is far wiser to see that 
the bone has a good chance to heal properly the first time it is 
damaged. 

Plenty of bread, oatmeal, and wholesome food in general, 
is good for your bones ; but too many sweets and too much soda 
water is very bad indeed for them. A child who drinks much 
soda water is very apt to have brittle bones and poor teeth. A 
tumble, which would only mean a bump or a bruise for some 
one else, may result in one or more breaks with a child who 
drinks much soda water. And these breaks will not heal as fast 
nor as perfectly, as if the child had never been allowed to drink 
soda water, save once in a very great while, as a special treat. 

QUESTIONS. — Of what is the framework of your little house made? What 
is your bone framework called, and how do you know it is there? Touch your 
three bone cages and tell what they hold. About how many bones have you, and 
what is your backbone? Were your bones always hard? Why must you be very 
careful how you touch a wee baby? If you sit and stand badly, what will it do to 
your bones? Can a tree which has grown up crooked be straightened? How do 
the blood-boats travel up and down the bones? What do you call the place where 
bones join together? What can boys and girls do to secure a good frame. Why 
do parents and teachers often tell you to sit or stand differently? What should be 
done if a bone is out of joint? What should you do if you have a broken bone? 



CHAPTER VIII 
Your Pulleys and Ropes 

WE have said that the bones or frames of our bodies are 
all covered with flesh, which lies like a kind of 
cushion around and over them. It is the flesh 
which gives our body its soft, rounded appearance. 

The flesh which covers our bones is all made up of muscle 
and fat, through which run many of the pipes and blood vessels. 

We have already learned about the blood vessels and the 
blood-boats, so we know how useful they are. The fat which 
is tucked away in the different parts of the body is also useful. 
It is made mostly from sugar, and it is stored up, so that the 
blood-boats can go and get it and use it, whenever anything hap- 
pens to the stomach, bowels, or liver, so that they cannot send 
fresh supplies of food. 

The muscles (what we call lean meat in beef, mutton, or 
any other kind of meat which comes on our tables) are very 
useful indeed. They are really the ropes by means of which 
the master pulls the bones here and there to make the body 
move. These muscles are fine and very elastic, and there are 
so many of them that they form bunches. The muscles 
bind all the bones together and keep them in place. If they 
were not so strong and so elastic, our body framework would 
110 



How Muscles Change Shape 1 1 1 

wobble and fall apart like a badly jointed doll, or we would 
be stiff and immovable, so that we would look more like wooden 
statues than like graceful, active, living beings. 

Besides being something like a house, our body can also be 
compared to a machine. In the latter case the muscles are the 
ropes and straps, which can be tightened or loosened, just as the 
owner of the machine pleases. The muscles not only cover all 
the bone framework of the body, but they form part of all the 
pipes, and the room walls and linings. They are everywhere, 
and everywhere they are useful, as you are going to see. 

How Muscles Change Shape 

All our muscles are very elastic and ready to obey the least 
message brought by the nerve telegraph, which runs all through 
our bodies in every direction. The muscles are so elastic, that 
they can also change their shape in an instant, and stretch out 
until they are long and thin, or tighten up until they are very 
short and thick. 

If you wish to know just how your muscles act, lay your left 
hand on the upper inner part of your right arm. Now clench 
your right fist and draw it up towards your shoulder. As you 
do this, you can feel the tightening of the big muscle between 
the shoulder and elbow, can you not? In fact, it grows so thick 
and makes such a bump, that you can see as well as feel it. 

People who use their muscles a great deal, have much larger 
and stronger muscles than those who sit still and do nothing. A 



12 



Yourself 



boy who plays baseball, does gymnastics, rows and swims, or 
one who works on a farm or at some trade, has far more muscle 
(as it is called), than one who spends most of his time lolling 

in an easy chair, asking: 
"What shall I do?" or 
crying: "I don't know 
what to play next." 

Girls who run, and 
jump, and play tag, who 
help mother in the kitch- 
en and house- work, and 
who take care of the 
baby, also have more and 
better muscle than those 
who never do anything 
active or useful. 
A child who is very active, who runs about a great deal, and 
who is never quiet save when asleep, keeps many of its muscles 
at work all the time. Every time a muscle moves, it uses up a 
little air and food, and wears out a little of its material. When 
muscles are very busy they use up more food and air than when 
they move quietly or are at rest. 

For that reason, as soon as you begin to move them, the 
Pumping Dwarfs send the blood-boats out a little faster, for 
they know that the muscles need plenty of food and repairing 
stuff. The muscles are all fed and kept in good repair by these 




Baseball Develops Muscle 



How to Treat the Muscles 1 1 3 

little blood-boats, which, besides food and building materials, 
bring all the air needed. 

The muscles are very glad to get this food and air and new 
building materials to take the place of those which are worn 
out. Besides, the muscles have to get rid of the bad air, the 
waste food, and the worn-out materials, which those same little 
blood-boats carry swiftly away. 

How to Treat the Muscles 

If the muscles move so fast that they use up more food and 
air than the blood-boats can bring, even when the Pumping 
Dwarfs are sending them out as fast as they can, they soon feel 
very faint and weak. 

Then they telegraph up to the master: "Can't you let us 
rest? We are tired. Stop a minute so we can get food and air 
enough, and so we can replace our worn-out material!" If the 
master minds this message, and makes the body rest, the mus- 
cles make up their loss, and they soon feel all right again. 

But if the master pays no heed to the message, and keeps 
the muscles working, they get more and more tired, until they 
feel so faint they can scarcely do what he wishes. When 
this happens, they sometimes get cross and jerk. At other times 
they are sad and discouraged, and go on in a half-hearted way 
until they ache so hard that the master finds it out. Then, — as 
the ache disturbs him, — he generally sends word to them to stop 
moving. 



114 Yourself 

Even while the master is sound asleep, the muscles are still at 
work. They are busy taking in food and air from the blood- 
boats, and getting new materials to repair the damages done by 
moving too fast and too long. 

If they can get food and air enough while the master is asleep, 
and if they can get rid of all the waste, get new stuff, and enjoy 
a wee rest, they will be quite ready for a new day's work when 
the master awakes. 

But if the master has not been careful to eat enough good 
food, or to drink enough pure water, and if he does not breathe 
enough fresh air, even while he sleeps, the blood-boats cannot 
carry enough supplies to the muscles. Then the muscles cannot 
repair damages, and when the master wakes up, and wants them 
to go to work, they are not in good condition to do so. 

Then the master receives a telegram from them saying: "We 
don't feel like working. We are still aching hard. Leave us 
alone!" Some masters pay no attention to such messages as 
this, and make the poor tired muscles work on. Others say: 
"Very well, we'll both rest," and then they spend their time 
eating trash, or breathing bad air. This kind of rest does tired 
muscles no good at all. 

But a wise master thinks: "Poor little muscles. I did not 
treat them fairly. They always served me well when I gave 
them food, air and rest enough. I must have stinted them in 
some way. Let's see, what did I do that was wrong? I stop- 
ped when they sent word they ached, and went to sleep, for I 



How to Treat the Muscles 1 1 5 

knew that the Pumping Dwarfs would send the blood-boats 
to them with food and air. Yesterday I ate plenty of good 
plain food, so surely the blood-boats had enough food to carry. 
Ah! I remember now what was wrong! I forgot to open my 
bedroom window last night! 

"While asleep I breathed the same air over and over again, 
all night long. Of course the blood-boats could not get fresh 
air enough to carry to my tired muscles. That is why they are 
still cross and tired this morning. I am not a good master. I 
must be more careful. Now, I will go out of doors and take 
long full breaths, so as to send as much air as I can to those poor 
muscles." 

A master who thus finds out just why his muscles are cross, 
and who honestly tries to supply what they need, will generally 
find that they are quite willing and ready to go to work again as 
soon as they have secured what they needed so badly. 

The more exercise you take, — out of doors especially, where 
you are sure of having plenty of nice fresh air all the time, — the 
better it is for your muscles. For, when you exercise, you wear 
out the old muscle, and the blood boats bring materials to make 
new. With plenty of food, air, and the right materials, good 
new muscle is made, and every one knows how much better 
fresh, new things are than those which are old and worn out! 

That is why parents and teachers urge children to run and 
play out of doors whenever they can, and that is why you 
should have plenty of exercise. Children of all ages need exer- 



116 Yourself 

cise, and so do the older people, only they often need less be- 
cause you see their muscles are already full grown. 

How to Train the Muscles 

When muscles have enough food, air, and rest, they are apt 
to be quite healthy. But muscles need plenty of exercise as 
well as plenty of rest. If you wish your muscles to obey you 
quickly, and to do exactly what you wish, in the neatest and 
nicest way, you must first teach them how to do it. 

The muscles are all willing servants of the master of the 
house, but he has to train them. If he trains them well, they 
will do his work well ; but if he is careless and lets them do their 
work in any way they please, it will often be very poorly done. 

You know how it always is. Good masters make good ser- 
vants. In some houses everything is done neatly, the meals 
ready on time, well cooked, and all runs smoothly. Then we 
say: "So-and-so is a fine housekeeper and has beautifully 
trained servants. Everything runs as smoothly as clock work 
in that house!" 

In other places, you find everything at sixes and sevens, the 
meals are not on time, the food is badly cooked, the rooms are 
untidy, and people rightly say: "So-and-so is a very poor house- 
keeper. Her servants are lazy and untidy and run the house any 
way they please. It is very uncomfortable there." 

Now, since each one of us can train his muscle servants either 
to be neat, quick, and capable, or to be slow, lazy and un~ 



How to Train the Muscles 



117 




Threading a Needle 



tidy, don't you think it is wisest to begin right away and make 
them really good servants? 

You know how it is about such a simple matter as throwing 
a ball. A boy who knows just how to do it, picks up the ball, 



118 Yourself 

gives it a toss, and the ball goes just where he wishes. That is 
because he has practiced throwing balls until he is a fine pitcher. 

A girl who has not practiced baseball playing does it in a 
clumsy way. The ball goes only a little distance, or strikes far 
from the spot where she wished it to go. But a girl can take a 
needle and thread it, neatly and quickly, while a boy in trying 
to do so acts "as if his fingers were all thumbs." 

In both of these cases the muscles which have done the work 
often, and which have been trained to do it neatly, quickly, and 
without any fuss, are good servants, while those which have 
not been trained cannot do the work well. Girls can learn to 
throw balls just as well as boys, and boys can leam to thread 
needles just as well as girls, if they only choose to do so. But 
it takes practice to do either thing well. 

If you allow your muscles to get into lazy, roundabout, awk- 
ward ways of doing things, you will have a great deal of 
trouble breaking them of these bad habits. But, still, you can do 
it, for every one who is not an idiot or a cripple, can train his 
muscles to do his work well. 

With Brains, Sir 

One day, an artist went into a fellow-painter's studio and 
greatly admired a beautiful picture he had just finished. The 
figures were so lifelike, and the colors so bright, that the visitor 
imagined there must be a secret way of preparing them and 
eagerly said: "I'd like to get my colors to glow like that. With 
what do you mix yours?" 



With Brains, Sir 119 

"With brains, sir!" answered the painter, angry at being 
asked such a silly question. 

Now I am going to tell you a great secret. That is that 
everything we do should be mixed with brains! There is a 
right and a wrong way of doing everything. Of course, every 
child who reads this, learned to dress himself or herself long 
ago. You dress yourselves every morning, do you not? Many 
of you even have to dress several times a day. 

Each time you dress, you call your muscle servants and set 
them to work. Some children have trained their muscle ser- 
vants so that they do that work neatly and quickly. The master 
up in their brain watches these servants closely, to see that they 
do their work properly. He always directs the hands, for 
instance, to seize and hold the stockings in such a way that they 
can be pulled on straight, and without needing to be twisted 
and turned to get the toes in the right place or the seam running 
up the back of the leg. 

Shoes can be buttoned, garters fastened, and clothes put on 
in a very few minutes, if you watch yourself closely, and do 
everything in the easiest, shortest way. Of course, you have to 
think about what you are doing if you wish to do it neatly and 
quickly; or at least you must think about it until your muscles get 
so used to moving in the right way that they will do it with- 
out being reminded. 

I have seen some children who take an hour or more to get 
dressed, and then they look only half dressed, for many of their 




You Can Dress in a Very Few Minutes 



120 



A boat Doing Things 1 2 1 

things are put on crooked. But, I have seen others who make a 
game of getting dressed. They run races with their parents, 
with one another, or even with the clock. If you take off your 
clothes carefully at night, shake them well, turn them right side 
out, lay them down or hang them up where you can readily get 
at them in the morning, you can easily learn to put them on again 
in less than five minutes. 

Many grown people whom I know, can do that part of their 
dressing in three minutes, in summer, and five in winter, and 
look as neat as if they came out of a bandbox. They have trained 
their muscles so well, that every motion is as exact and quick as 
that of a fine pitcher on a baseball team. The clothes go on 
just as they wish, and there are no wrong moves or hitches! 

Many children whom I have seen consider it great fun to 
watch themselves every time they dress, to see how much better 
and quicker they can make their muscle servants obey them 
every day. It takes a great deal of practice before a child 
learns to dress very quickly, but as every child has to dress and 
undress at least three hundred and sixty-five times every year he 
lives, it will save him much time to learn to do it quickly and 
well right now. 

About Doing Things 

Let us suppose a child who likes to dawdle, look out of the 
window, play a little, grumble a little, who spends several 
minutes hunting around for missing shoes or stockings, buttons 



122 



Yourself 



her clothes up crooked, and so has to unbutton and button them 

up again. 

Such a child takes from half an hour to an hour, merely to 

put on her clothes, — for we are not talking now of washing, 

hair-combing, tooth-brushing or nail-cleaning. 

In a year, a child who takes half an hour to dress every day, 

has spent one hundred and eighty-two and a half hours put- 
ting on her clothes. 
But the child who 
uses muscles and 
brains in such a way 
as to do the same 
work in ten minutes 
(it can be done in 
five), spends only a 
little more than sixty 
hours dressing. 

The quick child, 
therefore, has about 
one hundred and 
twenty-two hours 

more to spend in play, or sleep, or anything he or she chooses to 

do, than the little slow poke! Now, it is just the same with 

everything else you undertake, and if you "use your brains," 

you can train your muscles to do the same work just a little 

quicker and better every day you live. 




Setting the Table 



About Doing Things 123 

Servants who set the table and wash the dishes three times a 
day, could save themselves ever so many steps, and gain much 




Washing Dishes 



time, if they only used their brains to train their muscles prop- 
erly. But, a good part of the time they do not think of what 



124 Yourself 

they are doing, or only half think about it, and so their muscles 
work just as they please. 

When the mistress has to do her servant's work, she is often 
surprised to see how quickly it can be done if she only thinks 
ahead, fixes things so as to have them handy, and takes as few 
steps, and makes as few unnecessary motions as possible. 

If you have to set tables, wash dishes, dust rooms, empty 
ashes, cut wood, harness horses, run errands, or merely get 
ready for school, just watch yourself, and see whether you do 
it in the quickest, shortest, easiest and neatest way. I am sure 
most of you will find that you can teach your muscle servants 
new and better ways, which will be a great help later on. 

I know a lady who has trained herself to do all her house- 
work so beautifully and so quickly, that it seems almost like 
magic. She can go in the kitchen, cook the dinner, wash up all 
the dishes, pots and pans, and never get a speck of dust or the 
least little stain upon her best dress. She, her kitchen, and her 
whole house are always "as neat as wax." 

This lady often says, laughing, that God gave her brains so 
that she could train her muscles. She also declares that she is 
far too lazy to be willing to spend all her time clearing up the 
mess she makes, and doing her daily housework. She is so 
smart and so quick, that she has plenty of time to sew, to go out 
calling, to play on the piano, to read and to paint, and still she 
really does much more work than many women I know, who 
spend all their time fussing over it. 



A Baby's Training 125 

Don't you think, therefore, that it pays to use one's brains to 
train one's muscles? If you use yours wisely while you are 
young, you can get your muscles in such good order by the time 
you are grown up, that you can do much in a short time with 
little fuss, or worry or fatigue. 

A Baby's Training 

Every baby moves his legs and arms about, clutches at all he 
sees, and pokes things into his mouth. That is baby's way of 
learning all about himself and about the strange things all 
around him. 

Everything is new, and he has to find out for himself all 
about the world he lives in. A baby can learn all his first 
lessons far better than any one else can teach him. But when 
he gets old enough to notice what you are doing, and to imi- 
tate you, you can begin to teach him useful things just as easily 
as pretty tricks. 

There was a baby once, who always wanted to go from one 
room into the other because the door between stood open the 
greater part of the time. This baby could creep very nicely, 
but as there was a high step between the two rooms, the other 
members of the family were kept running from morning till 
night to save her from a bad fall. 

An older brother, who had to watch the baby, — and who 
did not enjoy being disturbed so often in his play, — finally used 



126 Yourself 

his brains to some purpose. He knew the baby liked to do 
whatever he did. So he set her down near the step, crawled to- 
wards it on his hands and knees, turned around, lay down flat 
on his stomach, and reached down first with one foot and then 
with the other. When both his feet were in the lower room, 
he sat down and crept on. As soon as the baby crept to the step, 
he turned her around, made her lie flat, put her feet down in the 
lower room, made her sit down, and then let her creep on. 

Baby was delighted with this new game, which was re- 
peated several times; after that, whenever she drew near the 
step, the big brother, instead of lifting her down as before, 
made her get down by herself, and before night baby could 
do it all alone, and enjoyed it as much as if it were a fine joke. 

A few days later, to save himself the trouble of lifting baby 
up the step, this same brother showed her how to hold on by 
the door jamb, to raise one knee up on the step, then lie flat 
upon it, pull up the other foot, and creep on. 

I also know a wise mother, who, instead of always giving 
her baby a spoon and a tin pan to play with, sometimes gave 
her a loop button hook. Several times she showed the baby 
how to hold this button hook, how to put it in the button-holes 
in her shoes, how to push it through them and over the buttons, 
and how to draw it back with one hand, while using the other 
to hold the button-hole in place. 

Before long, this baby loved to play with the button hook 
and with her shoes, and, before she could walk, she had al- 




The Lesson of the Step 



The Advantage of Well Trained Muscles 127 

ready learned to button her own boots and loved to do it. In 
fact, it seemed such fine fun to her, that she gurgled and cooed 
while doing it, and laughed and shouted with glee as soon as 
it was all done. 

It was such a nice game for baby, that her mamma had to 
unbutton her shoes time and 
again every day, so that she 
could button them up again. But 
the good mother knew that all 
this was fine practice for her 
baby's little muscles and so she 
did it gladly. 

Later on, this mother was very 
happy indeed that her little girl 
could button her own shoes, at The Baby with the Shoe 
an age when most little ones two and three years older always 
had to have it done for them. 

It is very much kinder to show a little child carefully and 
patiently how to do a thing, and let him do it himself, than to 
do it for him. Of course, older people can do the thing much 
quicker and better, but baby's muscles have to be trained early 
and often if they are to make good servants for him later on. 

The Advantage of Well Trained Muscles 

Children of your age can train the baby and themselves in 
many ways, and thus help their parents and teachers. They 




128 Yourself 

will then grow up clever and graceful, as well as strong and 
healthy men and women. 

A boy or girl who learns to do any motion as quickly and 
well as it can be done, has gained just so much, and will be 
able to learn anything else much more easily. That is why 
every child should do school gymnastics and drill with all his 
heart, for all those motions are part of the training of his muscle 
servants. 

In time of war or danger, men with well trained minds and 
muscles can quickly learn to do anything that is needful. But 
men who think little, and whose muscles are stiff and untrained, 
need a great deal of drilling before they are of any use. 

For instance, a drill sergeant once had to teach some very 
stupid country boys how to march. He called "Right foot, 
left foot! Right foot, left foot!" until he was hoarse. But as 
these lads did not seem to know which foot was right and 
which was left, it was all in vain. 

In despair, the sergeant finally bade these stupid youths tie 
a wisp of hay around one foot and a wisp of straw around the 
other. 

Then he began the drill all over again saying: "Hay foot, 
straw foot! Hay foot, straw foot!" until he had taught them 
how to march properly. You see, these lads knew the differ- 
ence between hay and straw, which they had often seen, and 
the sergeant had brains enough to find out this way to teach 
them what they had to leam. 



The Advantage of Well Trained Muscles 129 

In many schools, especially in cities, the children go through 
the fire drill very often, because the teachers know that when 
their muscles are thoroughly trained, they won't be likely to 
make any mistakes, and that all can get out of the building 
safely, even if it does catch fire. 

Every child should therefore do his best to learn the drill 
well, and to obey every order as quickly and exactly as he can. 
Then, if the master of his little house keeps cool in time of 
danger, and does not bother the muscle servants by giving 
them wrong orders, all will be well, for the muscles know 
their duty and will be sure to do it. 

The mother of a four year old boy trained her little son to 
drop anything and everything and run to her whenever she 
called him in a certain way. One day, she was out walking 
with the little fellow, who was standing some distance ahead of 
her. 

They were near a field where some big boys were playing 
baseball. The mother saw a swift ball coming, and called her 
little son, who turned instantly and ran back to her. A second 
after he turned, the ball came whizzing across the walk, just at 
the spot where the child had been a moment before. 

The mother said that nothing but his prompt obedience saved 
his life, for the ball would certainly have struck his temple 
with such force that the blow would have proved fatal. You 
can imagine how thankful that mother was to have trained her 
boy to obey right away. If she had allowed him to get in the 



130 



Yourself 



habit of saying: "Yes, mamma, in a minute!" or of asking 
"Why?" before he obeyed, his life would have been lost. 

When to Fight 

While girls should train themselves, as soon as they can, to 
do all sorts of housework, boys can learn to drive in nails, and 

do all kinds of car- 
penter work deftly. 
Every kind of 
knowledge is use- 
ful some time or 
other, and I never 
heard any one re- 
gret that he knew 
how to do any- 
thing really well. 

Many boys think 
only of growing 
very strong so as to 
lift great weights to 
surprise people, or 
to do other feats of strength. But such muscle training is not of 
much use, and the efforts made are likely to do great harm in the 
end. It is far, far better to be a skilful workman, in any trade, 
than a champion prize-fighter or a lifter of great weights. 
If you have a chance to do so, boys, it is well to learn to fence 




Carpenter Work for Boys 



When to Fight 131 

and box. To fence or box well you have to give your muscles 
considerable training, which will make them strong and supple 
without straining them in any way. 

Such training will besides enable a boy to hold his own, 
should he ever have to do any fighting. For there are times, 
you know, when even the most peaceable men or boys are 
forced to fight. I would advise any boy to keep out of a fight 
just as long as he can, but if he sees a big boy bully a little 
one, and cannot make him stop in any other way, he should 
give that bully a good thrashing. 

In fact a man's or boy's strength is given him to defend him- 
self against any attack, to fight for his country, and to protect 
girls, women, children, and all those who are weaker than 
himself. 

The other day, I saw in a newspaper that a young woman 
was kept at work over hours and started to go home alone at 
ten o'clock at night. It was in a big city, and while she was 
waiting at the corner of the street for a car, a man stepped up 
and spoke to her. 

This man must have been either drunk or bad, and he must 
have said something very horrid, for the young woman started 
back and looked around in a frightened way for a policeman. 
There was no officer in sight, and the rough man was just going 
to seize her arm, when another man, passing by, pounced upon 
the ruffian and gave him the thrashing he so richly deserved. 

The newspaper said that the nice man was young and slen- 



132 Yourself 

der, and not nearly so tall and strong as the one he had at- 
tacked. But his muscles were well trained, and his indigna- 
tion gave him the necessary strength to defend that woman. 

He did not annoy her by speaking to her, or try to gain her 
notice in any way, but he held the ruffian down until she had 
stepped into her car and was out of harm's way. As there was 
no policeman there, at the time, to protect this lone woman, the 
young stranger did quite right to interfere and take the law into 
his own hands, and everybody admires him for it. 

Every boy and man should learn to treat every girl and wo- 
man just as he would like other men and boys to treat his 
mother, his sister, or his wife. He should always be ready to 
protect them from rough men, and to give them any help in his 
power whenever they need it. 

The boy heroes whom we hear about, who have saved peo- 
ple from drowning, from burning buildings, or who have 
snatched children or old people from in front of locomotives, 
or runaway horses, did not become heroes in a minute or even 
in a day. 

When the moment of danger came, their minds and muscles, 
always on the lookout to help others, or to do a kind deed, 
merely acted in the usual way, without needing any prompting. 
But selfish and lazy boys never become heroes, for they are used 
to think of themselves only, and not of others, and their muscle 
servants have gotten into such bad habits, that they are quite 
useless in time of sudden need. 



When to Fight 133 

So, if you ever hope to be a hero, and to risk your own life 
without any hesitation to save another, you should begin right 
away to train yourself to think of others before you think of 
yourself. You should, besides, teach your muscle servants to 
be always ready and willing to serve others, and by and by they 
will be so used to doing it, that they will move in the right way 
almost before you know it. 

QUESTIONS. — What covers all the framework of your house? What are 
muscles? What do the muscles bind together and move? How are orders carried 
from the master to the muscles? What are good ways in which boys and girls can 
develop their muscles? Do muscles have to be fed, and repaired? If so, how is it 
done? Should you give your muscles rest as well as exercise? Why is outdoor 
exercise better than any other? Can you train your muscles to be quick and pre- 
cise, and can you explain how "practice makes perfect"? Are there right and 
wrong ways of doing everything, dressing, setting tables, etc.? What should you 
do with your clothes when you undress? Does it save time and trouble to train your 
muscle servants well? Should babies be patiently taught to do things for them- 
selves? Of what advantage is it to go through gymnastic exercises and the fire-drill 
with all your heart, and to learn to do housework and carpentering, as well as to 
fence, box, and play tennis and ball? 



CHAPTER IX 

The Outside of Your House 

WE have already talked a little about the skin, which 
covers all the outside, and lines all the inside of 
your little house. We have also noticed that the 
skin inside is not nearly so thick as the skin outside, and that you 
can plainly see the blood and flesh through it. 

You know how delicate the inner skin is, and how careful 
we should be not to hurt it in any way. You are also aware 
of the fact that it is always kept moist and soft, and that it is 
fed and kept in good condition by the blood-boats, which sup- 
ply it with all the food, air, and repairing materials it needs. 

Now we are going to talk a little about the skin which covers 
the outside of your little houses. This is very much thicker than 
the inner skin, and seems quite different in make and in color. 
If you look at the skin on the back of your hand, you will notice 
a number of little marks upon it which look something like pin 
pricks. 

These little marks, or holes in the skin, are called pores. Be- 
sides the big pores, which you can thus see in different parts of 
your body, there are ever and ever so many tiny little ones, 
which you cannot see unless you take a magnifying glass. 
134 



The Outside of Your House 135 

The pores are the mouths or openings of many, many little 
tubes which run right down into your skin. Night and day, out 
of some of these tubes flows a fine oil (far too fine to be seen) , 
which keeps the skin soft and smooth. We know that oil 
comes out of these pores, not only because some doctors have 
seen it with their microscopes, but also because our skin feels 
and often looks oily. It is often so oily that if you pour clear 
water upon it, the water will roll off without really wetting it. 
When we want to wet our skin therefore, we must first rub the oil 
off by means of soap and hot water. 

There are millions and millions of pores in each human body, 
and while some pour out oil on the skin to keep it soft and 
smooth, others pour out water and refuse. The water which 
comes out of the pores generally comes in such very small drops 
that you cannot see it. It is like steam, and flies off in the air or 
is soaked up by our clothes. 

But sometimes the pores send out so much water that it cannot 
all fly away and forms drops on the skin. Then we say that 
person is sweating or perspiring. The water which thus comes 
out on the skin helps to cool the body when it is too hot, so a 
person who perspires, suffers far less from great heat than one 
whose skin stays dry. 

The body gets rid of much of its refuse by means of the skin. 
All the waste that is not cast out by the Garbage Can and Blad- 
der Dwarfs, or blown out by the lung bellows, is sent out through 
the pores of our skin. 



136 Yourself 

Each little pore, therefore, has its own share of work to do, 
and as long as it stays open it can work well. In fact the pores 
work night and day. They work when the master is asleep, just 
as well as when he is awake, and when they are all in good order 
they cast out nearly as much bad air, waste water, and other 
refuse, as is sent out of the body by other means, although you 
cannot see it. 

How to Keep the Pores Open 

You have all seen mucilage bottles, have you not? Did you 
ever notice that little by little as the sticky mucilage dried around 
the neck of the bottle, the opening got smaller and smaller? In- 
deed some mucilage bottles get all stopped up by the mucilage 
which dries and forms a kind of stopper in the neck of the bot- 
tle. When this happens, you can tip the bottle way over but no 
mucilage will come out. 

Well, our pores are something like mucilage bottles. The 
water and refuse poured out of them dries around their edges, 
although you cannot see it without a magnifying glass. If this 
dry refuse is not washed away, so that the top of the tube (or 
the neck of the skin mucilage bottle) is kept quite clean and 
clear, the opening soon gets so stopped up that no oil, no water 
and no refuse can come out of it any more. 

When this happens it is very bad indeed for the skin, and 
for the owner of the house. The little tubes go on bringing 
refuse and water to the top of the skin, which they wish to pour 



How to Keep the Pores Open 137 

out, but they find the opening closed so tightly that they cannot 
do so. 

This makes them very cross, for they all like to do their 
work as faithfully as they can. Then they try to make the 
master of the house understand that something is wrong, by 
sending him telegrams which make him feel a little uncom- 
fortable. If this won't do, and the pore openings are not freed, 
the dirty skin often gets red and sore, or it gets rough and scaly, 
and the nerve telegrams keep telling the master that all is not 
right with the skin. The refuse, which cannot pass out through 
the skin when the openings are stopped up, is then carried back 
into the body, where the lungs and the kidneys have to take 
care of it, besides looking after their own share of waste. 

As the body servants are all remarkably obliging and ready 
to help one another in time of need, the lungs and kidneys 
when thus called upon to take care of the skin refuse too, are 
very apt to say: "Poor skin, it must be sick, or it would surely 
do its own work. We must help it until it gets better." 

Then the kidneys and lungs work harder still to do their 
own work and that of the skin as well. But if the skin does not 
soon get to work again, the lungs and kidneys get over-tired, 
and by and by they get very cross and begin to growl. 

"Why does not that lazy skin get to work? We cannot go 
on forever doing its work as well as our own! Really, Master 
ought to see to this matter. It is not fair to overwork us in this 
way. We'll soon be sick too, if this goes on!" 



138 



Yourself 



A just master, who knows that his skin, lungs, bowels and 
kidneys each have their own work to do, and that if they do not 
do it nicely his house cannot be well kept, always tries to keep 
all these ways of removing waste in good order. 

As you know, the kidneys are all right when the master eats 
plain, wholesome food, drinks plenty of pure water, does not 

catch cold and keeps 
cheerful and pleasant. 

The lungs are all 
right as long as the mas- 
ter breathes plenty of 
nice fresh air, which has 
been sifted and warm- 
ed, and when he gives 
them plenty of room to 
swell out as much as 
they please, and sees 
that they are kept com- 
fortably warm. 
To keep the skin healthy, the master of the house must not 
only eat wholesome food, drink pure water, and breathe fresh 
air, but he must also keep every inch of it perfectly clean so that 
all the little pore openings will not be stopped up. 

About Bathing 




Keeping the Skin Healthy 



To keep your skin perfectly clean, and always in good con- 



About Bathing 139 

dition, you ought to take a good bath, or hard scrubbing, with 
hot water and soap at least once a week, washing every bit of 
your body thoroughly. If you perspire a great deal or if you do 
dirty work, it is often a good plan to put a teaspoonful of 
household ammonia to a basin of water before you begin to 
wash. Most people know enough to wash their faces and 
hands every morning; but this is not enough to keep our skin in 
good health. Faces and hands should be washed as often as 
needful to keep them nice and clean at all times. But, besides 
that, everyone should brush his or her teeth night and morning, 
wash the private parts carefully with soap and water, and take 
a sponge bath once a day. 

Some people say they do not have time to do all this. 
Others declare that it would make them ill. Now, all these 
excuses are sheer nonsense, and only show that those who make 
them do not know how to wash quickly and well. Of course, 
if it takes them an hour every time they take a bath, I can 
readily understand that they cannot find the time. I can also 
understand that it makes them ill, for too much soaking is very 
bad for the body, while mere washing is good for it. 

If you have a bathroom, with a tub and plenty of hot and 
cold water, you can soon learn to take a full bath, scrubbing 
every inch of your person with soap, rinsing yourself off care- 
fully, and rubbing yourself dry, in about ten minutes. By 
taking fifteen minutes, you can empty and wash out the tub, 
so that the next person who wants to use it may find it nice and 



40 



Yourself 



clean. In fact, you should always leave a bathroom as neat as 
you found it, and you can learn to do this so quickly and easily, 
that it will take very little time and be very little trouble. 

If you have no bathroom, you can get just as clean, only per- 
haps not quite so easily or quickly, by washing your body 
piecemeal. Of course, for a thorough bath you need soap, hot 
water, and plenty of "elbow grease" as a good hearty scrub- 
bing is called. 

If you have done no dirty work at all, and only wish to get 
rid of the waste which you cannot see, but which has been cast 

out by your pores, a 
hard rub with a wet 
cloth, or sponging 
your body all over, 
will be enough every 
day, provided you 
take a good soap and 
hot water wash once 
or twice a week. 

If you can strip 
entirely, and wring a 
rough bathing towel out in cold or warm water, you can soon 
find out the best way to hold it and to go to work so as to rub it 
hard all over your body in less than a minute. Then, with an- 
other towel, you can dry yourself and get into a fine glow in an- 
other minute, thus taking only two minutes for your whole bath. 




Five Minutes Devoted to Your Teeth 



Washing Babies 1 4 1 

Another five minutes devoted to your teeth, finger nails, and 
other parts of your body requiring special attention, will enable 
you to do all your washing in about seven minutes, and if you 
have short or only moderately long hair to brush and comb, you 
can get that in good order in five minutes or less. 

Now, seven minutes for washing, five for your hair, and five 
to don your clothes, will enable you to get all ready in seven- 
teen minutes, provided you waste no time, and train your muscle 
servants in such a way that they will always do their work 
both quickly and well. 

Every one by rising early enough can surely afford to spend 
seventeen minutes for a thorough morning toilet. In fact they 
will be much better off if they do, than by taking five or ten min- 
utes merely to get dressed, and washing only their faces and 
hands, as so many children and even grown people do. 

But a person who begins the day in that way is beginning it 
all wrong. The skin, as you can easily notice, feels very differ- 
ent when dirty than when freshly washed. When clean, the 
pores are all open so the waste can be poured out freely, and 
the kidneys and lungs are not made to do extra work. 

Washing Babies 

If you keep your skin nice and clean by daily washing, it 

won't matter a bit if you do play in the mud and get very dirty. 

That kind of dirt never hurts the body, nor stops up the pores, 



142 Yourself 

provided it does not stay on too long. The kind of dirt which 
does harm, is the waste from the body, which ought to be re- 
moved from the body every day if you wish to keep well. 

Some old-fashioned folks fancy that washing is very bad for 
people, especially if they are young or sickly; but all the doc- 
tors will tell you that washing, on the contrary, helps every one 
to grow bigger and stronger. Of course, I do not mean soaring 
when I say washing. Soaking is good only for dirty clothes or 
for certain kinds of diseases, and children who stay in the water 
too long are sure to be ill. 

Sick people need baths just as much or even more than well 
people. They should be washed very often if you wish them 
to get well. Although they cannot get into a tub, or take a 
sponge bath themselves, you can give them a thorough cleaning 
by wetting a small part of their bodies at a time, drying that spot 
nicely, and keeping all the rest carefully covered up in the 
meantime. 

Babies, whose skin is so tender, ought to have a bath every 
day. If you are careful not to hurt or frighten them, and if 
both room and water are warm enough, the baby will be sure to 
enjoy his bath very much indeed. 

All babies should be very carefully dried with a soft towel, 
looking out for all the little creases, and then gently rubbed, es- 
pecially over the chest and back. If baby's skin looks red and 
sore in the creases, you should dust it over with a little pure 
corn-starch, or baby powder, or put some vaseline upon it. But 



Washing Babies 143 

if you are careful to keep your baby dry, to wash and dry him 
every time you change his diapers, and to use clean diapers only, 
it is not likely that any powder will be needed to keep his skin 
healthy. 

If baby's skin is not kept in first-class condition by frequent 
baths, his tiny pores (you cannot see them) will all be stopped 
up. His kidneys and lungs will thus have more than their share 
of work to do, and they will soon get tired. Neither skin, nor 
kidneys, nor lungs, can be in good health and temper unless 
each of them gets just the right treatment, and to treat your skin 
rightly you must keep it clean. 

I know some children, who, when sent to wash their hands, 
always wash the insides or palms only, and forget the backs of 
their hands and fingers. A good way to go to work is to put 
water in a basin and rub some soap on the palms of both hands. 
Then put down your soap. Clasp one hand tightly around each 
finger of the other hand in turn, and rub that finger hard back- 
ward and forward. 

When you have gotten all the fingers and the thumb of that 
hand clean in this way, rub the back of that same hand. Then 
clasp your wrist and screw that back and forth in your hand a 
few times. A good rub to the arm up to the elbow, will make 
that arm and hand quite clean. 

Next, soap the clean hand, and give the one you first used 
as a rubber a good hard scrubbing in the same way. Then take 
your nail or scrubbing-brush, wet it, rub soap on it, and scrub 



144 Yourself 

your finger nails very hard, holding fingers and thumbs close 
together against the bristles. 

A good rinsing and drying after this operation — which you 
can learn to do very quickly with practice — will leave you with 
nice, clean hands. Then, if you take a wooden toothpick or an 
orange stick, and use it to remove any dirt which may be left, 
from under your finger nails, you will be ready to go to school, 
or to sit down to table with really clean hands. 

About Lunches 

Every man, woman and child should always be careful not 
to eat or touch any kind of food unless his or her hands are 
perfectly clean. In the dirt and dust which we get on our 
hands, there are many little seeds of disease. If we swallow 
these, they may find a little corner in our bodies where they can 
grow, and they will soon spread from there and make the 
whole body very sick. 

The other day I was watching a house painter. He had 
been at work, and his hands were dirty and all daubed over 
with paint. When the noon whistle blew, he dropped his brush 
and took his dinner pail. As there was no water to be had, I 
wondered how he was going to manage to eat his dinner with- 
out its tasting of paint and dirt. 

So I watched him open his pail and take out a parcel all 
wrapped up in a nice white napkin. He carefully undid this 



A bout Lunches 1 45 

napkin, and folded it around his sandwiches, which he hand- 
led in such a neat, deft way that his dirty fingers never once 
touched his food or came near his mouth except when all cov- 
ered by the nice clean napkin. 

You see, that man knew that paint and dirt mixed with his 
food, would make him ill, and besides, although he had to work 
at a dirty trade, he was a nice clean fellow. As he could not 
wash before dinner, he did the next best thing. Still, I am 
quite sure that man had a good scrubbing when he got home 
before he sat down to the family supper table. 

Some of the men who do the dirtiest work are really very 
clean, far cleaner than any of those who look much neater, but 
who do not take as good care of their bodies, or keep their skin 
in fine condition by plenty of washing. 

Many of the school children can learn a useful lesson from 
this house painter, as far as their own lunches are concerned. 
Some mothers have time to prepare the children's lunch nicely, 
but many boys and girls have to get their own ready or go 
without any. If you cannot have nice clean napkins or oiled 
paper, you can save up all the clean tissue and brown paper 
which comes into the house for future use. 

Gut this paper into squares of the right size, and wrap up 
each article of food separately, so that when you open it in 
school, it will tempt you to eat heartily and will not disgust 
others. Some of the teachers who are on duty during the noon 

hour have told me that they were often unable to touch their 

10 



146 



Yourself 



own lunches, because they had been so sickened by the sight 
of the messes which some of the children had. 

Why not cut up your meat into small pieces, or mince it fine 
before you put it between slices of buttered bread? Then, 
wrap your meat sandwiches in a separate piece of paper from 
your jam sandwiches. Cover your custard cup neatly with a 




A Nice School Luncheon 

paper; wash your fruit clean and dry it nicely before you wrap 
it up too. Then pack your lunch in a tidy way in a box or 
basket, so that it will be as nice when you open it as when it was 
put in. 

Of course, in every school there are washstands where you 
can wash your hands before and after meals. If you are neat 
you will do so, and use a towel of your own which you keep 
in your desk for that purpose. Every person should have his 
or her own private towel, and use no other, whether at home, at 
school, in the office or shop. It is the only safe rule to follow, 



No Right to be Dirty 147 

if you wish to run no risks of catching some nasty skin or eye 
disease, and, as you know, one cannot learn good habits too 
early. 

No Right to be Dirty 

In all my life I never heard of but one person who injured 
her health by too much washing. But I have heard of and seen 
any number of people who neglected their skin, and let it get in 
St shameful condition, which — although they did not know it 
or would not believe it if told — was one of the main reasons 
why they so often felt poorly. 

Dirty people not only harm themselves, but they are very 
offensive to clean people. One dirty man or woman in a street 
car, in a stage, or on a train, can poison all the air, and make all 
the other passengers very uncomfortable. So you see, even if 
we do not respect our own bodies, and wish to keep them clean 
for our own sakes, we ought to be clean for the sake of others. 

This is a free country, and every one has a right to live and 
act as he pleases, provided he does not interfere with the rights 
of other people. But, no one has the right to poison the air 
others breathe, so you see no one has really the right to be any- 
thing but clean if he wishes to live near other people. 

In cities, the board of health arrests people whose houses 
are not kept clean, for we now know that dirt breeds disease. 
Before long, there may even be laws which will make it right to 
arrest dirty persons, and all those who smell bad. 



148 Yourself 

Meantime, each child who reads this book can see to it that 
his own skin is daily washed and thus kept in such good order, 
that never mind what work he may do, or how dirty he may get 
during the day, he will never be really offensive to any one, and 
can always respect himself. 

Because our body is always casting out refuse night and day, 
through the pores, the clothes we wear next the skin should be 
changed and washed very often. It is always best to have 
woolen, or cotton and woolen underclothes, and of rather loose 
than tight texture and fit. You should take off these garments 
every night, give them a good shaking, so that the dry waste 
can fly off, and hang them up to air during the night. 

Then you should put on clean night clothes, which you can 
take off in the morning, shake in their turn, and hang out of the 
window to air thoroughly before you put them away for the 
day. 

Underclothes and night clothes should be changed and wash- 
ed at least once a week. The bed sheets, too, should be well 
shaken and aired every day, and changed and washed quite fre- 
quently. Much of our skin waste can be found on our sheets, as 
you can see for yourself if you shake your sheet against the light 
or in a sunbeam. A white cloud of dust will fly off from it. This 
dust is body or skin refuse, and like all waste it should be gotten 
rid of, and not kept near the body any longer than needful. 

As every one likes to appear as well as possible, I need not 
say much about your outside clothes. But remember, it is far 



l No Right to be Dirty 



149 



more important for your health that your underclothes should 
be clean, dry, well aired and changed often, than that the 




Bed Clothes Should Be Aired Daily 
clothes which everybody can see shall be handsome. Now 
that clothes are cheap and easy to buy ready made, there is no 



150 Yourself 

excuse for any one to be dirty, and good underwear can be 
bought for a few cents. 

QUESTIONS. — What covers all the outside and inside of your house? What is 
the difference between the outside and inside covering? What are the little holes 
in the skin called, and what do they do night and day? When the pores send out 
water enough to be seen, what do you call it? Is all the body waste thrown out of 
your house by the Garbage Can and Bladder Dwarfs? What is the difference be- 
tween open and closed pores and which are best for you to have? What must the 
master do to keep the skin working nicely? How often should you wash the differ- 
ent parts of your house? If you have trained your muscles well and do it every day, 
how long does it take for a bath? Should you give more time to teeth, hands and 
hair? Should the baby be bathed and kept clean? Can you show me how you 
should go to work to have really clean hands and finger-nails? Why should your 
hands be clean before you touch food, and why should your school lunch be neatly 
packed? How should you care for your bed clothes, and are sun, air, and a shaking 
good for them? 



CHAPTER X 

Being Careful for the Sake of Others 

IN olden times, when the father of the family had to grow 
all the cotton and flax, and to raise all the wool used for 
garments, when the mother had to clean it, spin it, weave 
it, dye it, and make it up into clothes, with no help of sewing or 
any other of our fine machines, it is no wonder that people had 
too few clothes to change as often as good health requires. 

Even forty years ago, during our civil war, cotton was so 
very dear, that a handkerchief cost nearly a dollar. It is no 
wonder, therefore, that people who lived in those days could 
not, many of them, afford to buy handkerchiefs, and thus got 
into the habit of blowing their noses with their fingers. 

Now that you can buy a handkerchief for two cents, — if 
need be, — there is no excuse whatever for not having one 
always on hand, and a clean one at that. All children should 
therefore learn very early to have a handkerchief, and to use it 
to keep their noses and mouths clean, and to wipe off their fin- 
gers when necessary. 

A child who does not have a handkerchief, and use it freely 
instead of snuffing or sniffling, has not been well brought up, and 
should be taught good habits as soon as possible. All the chil- 
151 



152 



Yourself 



dren who read this book are, of course, old enough to know how 
to use their handkerchiefs, but they should also be careful to 
teach their little brothers and sisters how to use them too, so 
that they can keep clean, and never present the disgusting sight 
of a dirty nose. Little children can be nicely trained in this 
matter very early, provided their older brothers and sisters are 

careful and always give 
them a good example. 

Boys may think it is 
manly to imitate some 
old workmen they have 
seen, and to blow their 
noses with their fingers. 
These boys evidently do 
not know that if hand- 
kerchiefs had been as 
cheap and plenty when 
those men were young, 
as they are now, these 
men would never have gotten into habits which shock people 
now because they are neither clean nor nice. 




Use Your Handkerchief 



A Wise Law 



People should also always use their handkerchiefs when- 
ever they have anything in their mouths which they wish to 



A Wise Law 153 

spit out. Doctors have found out, within the last few years, that 
spittle often contains many little disease seeds or germs. When 
the spittle dries, these little germs are set free, caught up by the 
wind, and begin to fly about. 

Then they can be drawn right into other people's lungs, where 
they often find little corners where they can settle down com- 
fortably and grow until they cannot be driven out any more. 
The person in whose lungs they thus settle, soon grows weak 
and ill, and thousands of people die every year from disease 
caught in just this way. 

Because the spittle from one sick person — who may not know 
he is sick — can make many others ill, the laws. in certain cities 
and states forbid spitting in the street, in any conveyance, or in 
a public building. Any one who disobeys this law is likely to 
be arrested or fined. 

I am sure that all you children will now see how wise this 
law is, and how important it is for public health that no one 
should ever be allowed to break it. Our duty is, therefore, to 
watch over ourselves closely, to see that we always spit in our 
handkerchiefs only, to train all the younger children to do so 
too, and help the police in every way to enforce a law which 
was made to guard us one and all from a deadly enemy. 

If there is a consumptive person in your house, he or she 
should not only sleep in a bed but in a room alone. Besides, 
there should always be plenty of fresh air in this room. 

Even a person only a little consumptive should never spit into 



154 Yourself 

anything but a paper handkerchief, which should be used only 
a few times, and then burned, so as to make sure that all the 
little disease seeds are killed right away. 

If cotton or linen handkerchiefs are used, they should always 
be boiled. After clothes have been thoroughly boiled they can 
always be used again by any one without danger. In that way 
only, one can make sure that all the little disease seeds are killed 
before they can do any one else any harm. If everybody were 
really careful about these things, there would not be nearly as 
many sick people in the world as there are now, and everybody 
would therefore be much happier. 

Catching Diseases 

There are many, many "catching" diseases, a few of which 
every one is likely to take some time in his life. Some are 
caught by breathing in little disease seeds, or by catching a sick 
person's breath, and some are taken by touching a sick person's 
skin or some article of dress he or she has worn. Chicken-pox, 
measles, whooping-cough, mumps, scarlet-fever, diphtheria and 
smallpox are all diseases which spread very rapidly, unless 
great care is taken to prevent their doing so. 

While chicken-pox, measles, mumps and whooping-cough 
are quite common, and not all dangerous in themselves, children 
often die from these very diseases, if they do not receive proper 
care while they have them. 



Catching Diseases 1 55 

You may think your mamma very unkind to keep you in bed 
or in a dark room when you perhaps hardly feel sick at all. But 
mamma knows that if you catch cold while suffering from any 
of these diseases, you may be very ill indeed, so ill that may 
be you will die, or be sickly all the rest of your life. 

Your mother also knows that a child who has the measles, 
should always be kept in a dark room, for if the light shines into 
your eyes while you are thus ill, you may have weak or sore 
eyes for many years afterwards. 

Scarlet-fever, diphtheria, and smallpox are much worse dis- 
eases than measles or whooping-cough, and for that reason all 
the doctors and health boards watch over those who have them. 
They do so because they wish to prevent their being careless, or 
doing anything which would spread those diseases. 

Every person in our country should feel it a sacred duty to be 
as careful as possible not to give any sickness to any one else. 
A child with the mumps, the whooping-cough or any other 
catching disease, should be taught to keep far away from all 
other children until all danger of giving it to them is entirely 
over. 

It is because your teachers do not wish the other children to 
run any risk of getting sick, that they send you home whenever 
they think you may have any catching disease, or when they 
know there is such an illness in your house, and fear that you 
may bring it to others in your clothes. 

There are also many catching skin and eye diseases; so if 



156 Yourself 

you see a child with sore eyes, or a blotchy or pimply skin, you 
had better keep far away from him, until your mother can find 
out whether it is quite safe for you to sit or play together. The 
best way to avoid being ill, or catching unpleasant things, is to 
keep well and happy yourself, to be perfectly clean, not to take 
cold, and to stay far away from any one from whom you could 
catch anything unpleasant. 

About Wet Feet 

People can get very sick if they are not careful to keep warm 
and dry when it is cold or rainy. If you have not clothes enough 
to keep warm, just fold some old newspapers around your back 
and chest, and wear them between layers of your clothes. 

Paper is the warmest and lightest thing any one can wear, 
and for that reason many poor people make paper comfort- 
ables for their beds by sewing a number of newspapers together. 
Sometimes, to prevent these newspapers from tearing, they are 
fastened between two thicknesses of calico. In that way fine 
large comfortables can be made for less than twenty-five cents 
apiece. 

When you get wet, or even damp, you should always change 
your clothes right away. If you cannot do so, keep moving 
briskly until you have a chance to change them, for you will 
be far less likely to take cold if you keep your body warm in- 
side by plenty of exercise. 



About Wet Feet 



157 



Your feet especially should always be dry, so do not grumble 
any more when mamma tells you to change your shoes and 
stockings. Instead of pouting, see how quickly you can obey, 
and find out in how short a time a smart boy or girl can get out 
of wet shoes and stockings and into dry ones. Some people can 
do it inside of two min- 
utes; can you beat that re- 
cord? Try it next time 
your feet are wet and find 
out. 

In driving past a poor 
cottage one cold day a 
lady saw several little 
bare- footed children. She 
felt sorry for the poor lit- 
tle things when she saw 
their blue legs and feet, 
and bought them each 
two pairs of strong shoes 
and thick stockings. The 
children and their mother were delighted, and every time the 
lady passed the little ones waved their hands and pointed joy- 
fully at their nicely clothed feet. 

But one day no children were playing in front of the cottage 
door. The lady was so surprised that she got out of the carriage 
and knocked at the door When the mother opened, there was 




Keep Dry in Wet Weather 



158 Yourself 

an awful scowl on her face and when the lady asked: "Where 
are the children, are they sick?" 

"Sick! Sure and it's almost dead they are!" answered the 
woman angrily. "And it's all your fault! They never were 
sick before, and now they all have croup, and the doctor says 
it's all because they wore wet shoes and stockings!" 

"Why didn't you make them change their shoes and stock- 
ings, if their feet were wet?" asked the lady. "I gave each 
child two pairs of shoes and stockings on purpose." 

But the woman would not listen. She ran into the house, 
gathered up all the shoes and stockings and threw them at the 
lady's feet, saying, "Take back your old shoes and stockings, 
and don't come here any more trying to kill my children ! " Then 
she slammed the door in her face. Do you think this woman 
was right? What do you think she should have done? 

To keep one's feet dry, it is best to wear thick shoes, leggings, 
and rubbers in stormy weather. But these should be worn only 
out of doors. As soon as you get in the house, always be sure 
to take off your rubbers, or else your feet will grow tender 
and sore, and you will be far more likely to catch cold and be ill. 
You see, as you are the owners and keepers of your little 
houses, you always have to bear in mind how you can best keep 
them in first-class order and repair, so that you won't need to be 
ashamed of their appearance or feel uncomfortable. 

Any master who lives in a badly kept house, can neither be 
comfortable nor happy, and his house will soon go to pieces. 



The Hair and Finger Nails 159 

Besides he is not faithful, for God has given each of us a house 
to be used but not to be abused. 

The Hair and Finger Nails 

The hair which grows so thickly all over your head has to be 
kept in good order, if you do not wish to look like a savage or a 
Shetland pony. Hair gets dirty as well as the skin, and needs 
a good washing every once in a while. 

Boys who keep their hair short all their lives, have no trouble 
in washing it. They should give their heads a good scrubbing 
at least once a week, and oftener if they work at some dusty or 
dirty trade. 

A good combing and hard brushing will keep your hair in 
order the rest of the time. It does not need to be plastered down 
with hair oil or water to look neat. In fact, it will be much bet- 
ter for your hair and scalp (the skin on your head), if you are 
satisfied to comb and brush and wash your hair, whenever it 
needs it, and to leave it alone the rest of the time. 

Each hair is supplied with its own little oil-can, hidden under 
the skin, which pours out just enough of the right kind of oil to 
keep it in good condition, and you do not need to add any other 
kind of grease. The shorter a boy keeps his hair, the easier it 
will be to keep it clean. For that reason soldiers and officers 
always keep it cut as closely as possible. 

Girls who have long hair ought always to cover it with a cap 
or handkerchief, while they are sweeping or dusting or doing 



160 Yourself 

any other dirty work. If they are careful about this matter, 
their hair will keep clean longer, and will not need to be washed 
so often. 

A girl's hair needs washing only about once a month, pro- 
vided she is very careful when sweeping, does not perspire 
much, and combs and brushes it thoroughly morning and even- 
ing. 

When the hair is long, or curly and thick, it is apt to tangle 
pretty badly. The quickest and easiest way to get the snarls 
out, without breaking or pulling out any hair, is to hold the hair 
firmly in one hand, and the comb in the other. 

Begin within an inch or two of the ends, and comb down. 
When the comb runs smoothly through that part of the hair, 
start an inch or two further up, and again comb downward. By 
proceeding thus, you take out the tangles little by little, and 
really get through your task much sooner and with far less dis- 
comfort. 

Nicely combed, smoothly brushed and neatly braided or 
twisted hair always looks pretty. But flying locks are never 
tidy, and curls and frizzes, not of nature's own making, are a 
great waste of time and patience. 

You should always do your hair up neatly before leaving 
your room in the morning, and if you want it to look nice and 
last long, you should brush and comb it also before you go to 
bed, and see that it is done up securely so as not to be in your 
way and not to get badly tangled while you are asleep. 



The Hair and Finger Nails 



161 



a 



/ 



a 



Finger nails need brushing almost every time you wash your 
hands, and they need cleaning whenever they are the least 
bit dirty. Still, you should never clean them in public, but do 
this in your own room, in the toilet room, or when you are sure 
you are alone. Never mind what dirty work you have to do, 
you can, if you like, have clean hands and finger nails when 
your work is over. 

Finger and toe nails should be kept just short enough to come 
even with the tops or ends of fingers and toes. It is always best 
to cut them with sharp scissors, and a 
little practice will soon enable you to 
cut those on your right hand as well 
as on your left. 

When cutting your finger nails, 
you may, if you choose, round off the 
corners. You should carefully push 
back the skin at the bottom or root 
of the nail so the little half moon shows. If you push back the 
skin in this way you won't have any hang nails. 

As your shoes press on either side of your feet you should cut 
your toe nails straight across and not round off the corners. If 
you do, you may suffer from ingrowing toe nails which hurt 
very badly. 

There are many children, — and some grown ups, — who, I 
am sorry to say, bite their finger nails. This is a very bad and 



Which Nail Looks 
Like Yours? 



11 



162 Yourself 

unpleasant habit, which may harm them and which also makes 
other people very uncomfortable. 

As our hands touch everything, they are, of course, most 
likely to get dirty and to pick up tiny disease seeds, which, if 
we put our fingers to our lips, may be swallowed and perhaps 
make us ill. Besides, finger nails are very rough, and the sharp 
parings may damage the tender skin of the stomach and pipes 
through which they have to pass before they can be cast out of 
the body as waste. 

Next time you cut your nails just take a paring and jab your- 
self with it. You will soon find out that it is pretty sharp and 
that it can pierce even the tough skin on your hand. So, finger 
nails, if swallowed can punch tiny holes in your inner tubes and 
do lots of mischief down there. Doctors will even tell you of 
cases where children have died merely because they had the 
bad habit of biting their finger nails and swallowing the little 
bits in their mouths. 

Now any bad habit can be broken if you try hard enough all 
the time, and surely any sensible boy or girl will understand that 
this habit is not only offensive to others, but very dangerous to 
the one who practices it, and will therefore try to get rid of it as 
soon as possible. 

QUESTIONS. — What use do nice children make of a handkerchief? Why are 
people told not to spit in cars and on the street ? How are catching diseases taken? 
In measles, mumps, chicken pox, or whooping cough, why should care be used so 
children won't catch cold and why are they in some cases kept in a partly dark 
room and not allowed to read ? Is it wise to keep on wet or damp shoes and stock- 



The Hair and Finger Nails 1 63 

ings? Why should you always take off your rubbers in the house? How can you 
keep short hair and long hair in good order? How should a tidy boy's or girl's hair 
look? How should girls protect their hair from dust while sweeping? How can 
you keep finger and toe nails in order? Is it nice to clean your finger-nails in public? 
Is it right for children to bite their finger-nails? What do you suppose the Stomach 
Dwarf says when bits of finger-nail come down the staircase? What part of the 
body can these sharp bits damage? 



CHAPTER XI 
Your Central Office and Its Stores 

WE have already talked considerably about the master 
who dwells in each human house, be it little or big, 
pretty or homely, good or bad. This master is the 
real person, the mind, or spirit, which does all the thinking, 
planning and directing. 

House masters are as different as the places they dwell in, 
but each one has to stay in the house where God placed him so 
long as life lasts. 

Most of us believe that when the human house is worn out, 
and falls into decay, God allows the master to move out and 
occupy a better one, provided he has shown he is fit to be trusted 
by taking proper care of this one and making the best use of it. 

As we have already said, each master lives in the top story 
of the house, where he can look out of the two windows, and 
see all that is going on. His whole house is very wonderful, but 
the most wonderful and interesting part of all, is surely that in 
the bone box called the skull. 

The master's office is in there, so are the main telegraph and 

telephone stations of the house. From these stations start any 

number of telegraph wires — or nerves. Nerves are tiny white 

cords, so small that you cannot see them, except when many of 

164 




Your Central Office and Its Stores 1 65 

them run along side by side, and thus form thick cables of many 
fine wires or threads. 

Although many of these little telegraph wires start out and 
run to every part of the face, the greater part of them run down 
your back together, and then branch off from there to all the 
different parts of your body inside and out. 

The biggest nerve 
cable, (which is made up 
of ever so many fine 
threads) runs right 
through the little bones 

which form the spine, 

,_ . . .1 11 . .1 A Telegraph Instrument 

stringing them all together 

like beads. With bones all around it — -bones which have many 

joints and can therefore bend almost any way you please — the 

nerves of the spine are so well protected, that they can do their 

work without running much risk of being broken or damaged. 

You can see in pictures just how little branch telegraphs 
start off, here and there, along the main line. But pictures only 
show the biggest nerves or wires. If they tried to show you all 
the fine little ones, there would be such a network of white lines 
that you could no longer see where any of them went and 
would be greatly bewildered. 

There are so many nerves, because every hair on our body, 
every pore in our skin, every little wee bit of tube, and every 
scrap of muscle or bone has its own nerve, so as to send a mes- 



166 Yourself 

sage if necessary. Night and day, as long as we live, messages 
flash back and forth along these little nerves. Not a breath is 
drawn, not a motion is made, not a heart beat takes place, with- 
out the nerves sending orders to have it done and reporting just 
how it was done. 

If the poor master of the house had to direct every breath, 
every heart beat, and all the other wonderful things which are 
always going on night and day in his house, he would have no 
chance at all to sleep, to think, or to enjoy himself. So the 
greater part of the work in his house is done by clever servants, 
who do not trouble him in any way. 

There is, for instance, a servant in the breathing telegraph 
office. He sends all the orders about breathing, year in and 
year out, and sees to it that all goes on well in his department, 
whether the master is watching him or not. Sometimes the 
master asks his servant how things are running, orders him to 
take extra long breaths, makes him keep the bellows very full of 
air, or empty them quickly or slowly. But generally the master 
lets the breathing servant manage his work just as he pleases. 

As long as the master does not wear tight clothes (which pre- 
vent the ribs from rising, and the muscle wall from sinking when 
the bellows fill with air) , and as long as he can get plenty of 
nice pure air, the breathing servant is quite happy, and need not 
consult his master. But when the air is too damp or too cold, 
when it is smoky or not pure, or when there is not room enough 
for the bellows to open wide and receive all the air they can 



About Nerves 167 

hold, this servant gets sorely troubled. Then he sends mes- 
sages to the master, who can pay heed to them or not just as he 
chooses. But if the master does not listen to them, he is not 
doing his duty, and soon all will go wrong in his little house. 

There is another station, where a servant receives all the 
messages from the Pumping Dwarfs, and gives them the neces- 
sary orders. In another place all the messages from the stomach 
are received and answered. There is also one for the skin, one 
for the kidneys, one for the eyes, one for the ears, and so on, be- 
cause each bone, each muscle, each cell, each tube, and all the 
different parts of the body we have mentioned, have nerves 
which run straight to certain stations. 

As all these stations are managed by skilful servants, the 
house master does not need to bother about them at all. Be- 
sides, they are all connected with the main office, the brain, 
where he sits, and the minute anything is wrong, or needs his 
attention, he knows perfectly well that those trusty servants will 
send him notice. 

About Nerves 

If the master is clever, knows how his house is made, what 
his servants need, and how his machinery can be kept in the 
best order, he can easily find out what is wrong, whenever he 
receives a message saying that things are not running smoothly. 

When any one knows just what is wrong, he generally 



168 Yourself 

knows how to set it right, and how to prevent any further 
trouble of the same kind. A good master can, therefore, see 
not only that the damage is repaired as soon as possible, but 
that the same accident does not occur again. 

But a stupid, careless, or ignorant master, gets quite bewild- 
ered, whenever any of his servants send word that anything is 
out of order. He does not try to find out what is the matter, or 
to set it straight, but only growls and grumbles because he is 
disturbed and made uncomfortable. When too unhappy or 
uneasy, he sends for a doctor to set things right for him, but 
often a little common sense, used in time, would have made 
everything right, and prevented all this fuss and damage. 

The nerves, like the muscles, are apt to get very tired, for 
they too, use up a little of their material every time they do any- 
thing. Still, if the blood-boats bring them plenty of whole- 
some food, fresh air, and other materials for repair, they will 
keep well, work well, and be happy, provided you give them 
enough rest. In fact, people with really healthy nerves, are 
those who never know that they have any, that is to say who 
never feel them in any unpleasant way. 

If the nerves do not get food, air, or rest enough, or if they 
are squeezed too tightly, or hurt in any other way, they are very 
likely to be unhappy and ache. When they feel very badly, 
they make the master of the house so uncomfortable, that he 
knows there is something wrong, and that he has nerves. Often, 
other people know it too, and then they call him nervous. 



About Nerves 169 

When a grown person, or a doctor, talks about nerves or 
nervousness, it is generally all right, but when children com- 
plain that they are nervous it is all wrong. Your fathers and 
mothers, who often have to be up all night with sick children, 
who have to work all day, look after the housekeeping, make 
and mend all your clothes, plan how to make a little money 
buy all you need, and do many other things, are of course very 
tired. They wear out every day more nerve material than 
food, air and the little rest they get, can repair. As you can 
plainly see, they cannot be anything but nerve-tired or nervous. 

But children, who sleep all night, who have no cares, and 
who do very little hard work, have no excuse whatever for 
having tired nerves. When such children are nervous, you 
may be very sure it is either because they are not eating the right 
kind of food at the right time, because they play too hard, read 
too exciting stories, or perhaps because they do not get enough 
air or exercise. 

A little girl who was fond of putting on airs, once told her 
mamma she was far too nervous to go to school, but quite well 
enough to go to a party! The mother, who knew that when 
children talk about nerves it is all nonsense, and only means 
that they are spoiled, answered: "You nervous! What non- 
sense. Don't you know that nerves don't grow until you are 
forty!" 

Her little girl never talked about her nerves again. Now, 
that mother knew perfectly well that even the smallest babies 



170 



Yourself 



have nerves, but what she meant was, that until one has lived 
long enough and worked hard enough to feel nerve-tired, one 
has no right even to pretend to be nervous. 

Children when really ill can be nervous for a little while, 
and then every one is sure to be very kind and patient with 
them. But unless they are very ill, you may be sure that what 
they call nervousness, is nothing but crossness. They can stop 
crying, or fretting, or fidgeting, if they like, and the sooner they 
learn to do so, the better for themselves and for everybody else. 
Any person who gives way to such feelings without real cause, 
is very weak-minded, and lacks self-control. 



The Brain Storehouse 

Up in the brain there are a great many little storehouses, in 

each of which there 
are many little cells or 
bottles. In some strange 
way, every message 
received is kept in these 
wee cells. As soon as 
the servants in the cen- 
tral station receive a 
message, they bottle it 
up, and put it away 
where they can easily find it again. 

They are such careful servants that they never make any 




The Brain Has Cells Like a Wasp's 
Nest — but Much Smaller. 



The Brain Storehouse 171 

mistakes. All the messages about form are therefore stored 
away in one place, all those about color in another, all those 
about smell in a third, and so it goes on. There is a place for 
everything in the brain, and everything is in its place. 

Let us suppose that the master is sitting up in his office, half 
asleep, with the shutters of his windows tightly closed. All at 
once, through the ear nerve close beside him, he hears the one 
word "Rose" "What is rose?" he asks. 

Then each of the little servants in turn tells him what is 
stored up in his "rose cells." The smell servant informs him 
how nice it smelled, the color servant that it was pink, or red, or 
white, or yellow, the place servant of the spot where it grew, 
the feel servant how soft its petals were and how hard its stem. 
Next, the friendship servant reminds him that it was given to 
him by some one he loved, the memory servant that he has seen 
other roses, or that he helped to plant the bush on which it 
grew, and the worship servant, that the rose was made by God, 
for the delight of man. 

So you see, one word, or one thought, stirs up a big to-do in 
the brain station; and, whenever the master chooses, his ser- 
vants will tell him all they know about anything, by bringing 
out all the information stowed away in their little cells. 

Good and Bad Stores 

Now we will suppose two little boys playing together. 
Billy, without meaning to do so hits Johnny. A message 



172 Yourself 

flashes up from the place where Johnny was struck, saying: "I 
am hurt. What shall I do?" Then comes another message 
from the eyes, saying: "It was Billy who hurt you, I saw him 
strike you." 

When the message servant is asked: "What shall I do?" he 
does not know, and asks the master. If the master says: "Hit 
Billy," he quickly sends out a message which makes Johnny's 
fist strike Billy hard. 

Besides, the servant tucks away in the brain storehouse a 
record of the blow received, and one of the blow given. Now 
if Johnny is a boy who is always ready to hit back, this servant 
will find many, many other little cells up in his brain storehouse, 
packed with the memory of blows. 

Then the servant will say to himself: "Ha! every time my 
master receives a blow, he always says: 'Hit back.' So I do 
not need to ask him any more what to do. Next time he is 
struck I'll just send word right away to the fists to strike hard, 
without troubling him at all about it." 

If Johnny said: "Hit back," then thought better of it before 
his fists could really strike, and made them stop, the message 
servant records both of these facts. The next time a blow is 
given, he looks up the two records and is likely to say: 

"No; no; I must not send orders to the fists to hit back, be- 
cause last time master decided that it was best not to strike, 
although he wanted to do so very badly." 

Thus, you see, the little servants, if left to themselves, will 



Good and Bad Stores 1 73 

be sure to act in the way their master usually wishes. They 
consult the records, find out what the master generally does, and 
unless he sends contrary orders, always act in just that way. 

When very little I was told that God and the angels saw all 
that I was doing, and knew all I was saying or thinking. I 
was also told that the angels kept a big book, in which they 
wrote down all I said or did, so that they could read it out loud 
on judgment day. That seemed very wonderful to me. 

But what is really more wonderful, is that all our words, all 
our thoughts, all our actions are kept recorded in our own brain. 
We may try to forget certain things, but when they are once 
lodged in one of those wee cells, nothing we can ever do can 
change them in any way. 

Each person bears in his brain a complete record of all he has 
said, or thought and done. People who think kind thoughts, 
therefore have their kindness storehouse well stocked, and peo- 
ple who think mean thoughts have the mean storehouse full of 
horrid messages stored away in their brain. 

Our message servants must surely be very sorry, at times, to 
have to record certain things, and we can imagine one of them, 
for instance, saying: "See, this is the selfish storehouse. Just 
look how many cells are stored away here! And each one is 
full of some selfish deed or thought. I don't like to look at this 
big supply of selfishness. Over here, in the unselfish storeroom, 
there are only a very few small cells, filled with unselfish deeds 
and thoughts." 



1 74 Yourself 

Whenever a message comes up in such a house, saying: 
"Shall I give up my own will and play the game my sister 
wishes, or shall I make her play what I wish?" the answer the 
message servant always sends is: "Make her do as you like," 
unless the master stops it. 

Every master should look closely after his storehouses. He 
cannot pack some of them too full, but there are others which 
should remain as nearly empty as possible. The storehouses 
which he should fill up are those of truth, bravery, purity, gen- 
erosity, unselfishness; and those which should remain empty, 
are the storehouses where all the bad, greedy, selfish, untruth- 
ful, cowardly, mean and dirty words and deeds are stored 
away. 

It is these records — which never lie — which make up what 
is known as a person's character. A good character is the 
grandest possession any one can have. All the money, all the 
genius, all the talent in the world, are not so precious as a good 
character. 

You may work very hard and still never get rich, you may 
try very hard and yet never get to be a great poet, or musician, 
or artist, or general, or statesman, or anything else. But you 
can, if you choose, see that your telegraph servants have none 
but good deeds and kind words to store away, and thus build 
up day by day a fine character, the only thing which no one can 
ever take away from you, and which will be a satisfaction to 
you forever. 



Good and Bad Stores 1 75 

Besides, "It is said there are ten things for which no one has 
yet been sorry — for doing good to all, for speaking evil of none, 
for hearing both sides before judging, for thinking before speak- 
ing, for holding an angry tongue, for being kind to the dis- 
tressed, for asking pardon for all wrong, for being patient to- 
wards everybody, for stopping the ears to a tale-bearer, for dis- 
believing all ill reports." 

Any one who can train himself to do this is sure to have a 
fine character in the end. 

When a great writer (Walter Scott) was on his deathbed, 
he said to his son-in-law: "My dear, be a good man, be virtu- 
ous — be religious. Be a good man. Nothing else will give 
you any comfort when you come to lie here." 

When people are in sudden danger of death by drowning, 
fire, or anything of the sort, we are told that all they have done 
or said, flashes in a moment through their minds. Just think what 
a relief it must be, when few but good and lovely deeds or 
words come to stare one in the face when one stands on the brink 
of eternity. 

QUESTIONS. — Which house must you occupy as long as you live, and who is 
its master? Where are the telephone and telegraph offices in your little house? 
What are the body telegraph and telephone wires, and where do they run? What 
bones does the biggest nerve cable string together? Is the master obliged to keep 
sending orders to his servants or are most of them trained to do their ordinary work 
without further orders? What does the breathing servant direct; what pleases and 
what troubles him? Is there a special servant to direct the Pumping Dwarfs, the 
Stomach Dwarf, etc. ? What makes nerves get tired, and how can they get rested ? 
Should sensible children excuse naughtiness by saying, "I'm nervous"? What kind 



176 Yourself 

of a storehouse is there in your brain, and what is put away there? Can you mention 
something good you stored away there to-day? Did you store anything naughty or 
unkind? If you have many kind, unselfish, gentle stores, what kind of a person 
will you be? If you store away greedy, selfish, untruthful words and deeds, what 
kind of a person will you be ? 




177 



Form Good Sleeping Habits 



12 



CHAPTER XII 
How to Train Body and Mind 

THE brain, like all the other parts of our body, needs 
good food, fresh air (both of which are brought to it 
by the blood-boats), and plenty of exercise and of 
rest, if you wish to keep it strong and well. By thinking hard, 
studying and playing with a will, and by doing everything in 
a brisk, wide-awake and interested way, you give your brain 
healthful exercise. By sleeping long and soundly every night, 
you give it the needed rest. 

Wee babies, whose brains are still very weak, and who have 
everything to learn, sleep a great deal. In fact, they sleep 
nearly all the time, — which is the very best thing babies can do. 
Still, as they grow older, and notice more things, they become 
interested in themselves, and in the world around them, and stay 
awake for a longer space of time so as to study everything they 
see. 

Almost every baby, if carefully trained from the very first 
hour of its life, can learn to go to sleep without rocking, singing, 
or fuss of any kind. He can also be trained very soon to sleep 
many hours at night without waking up even to be fed. 
A baby does not, of course, know what he really wants or 
178 




Six O'clock, Bed-time 



How to Train Body and Mind 1 79 

needs. He is not aware, for instance, of the fact that his little 
stomach needs a rest between meals. If grown people are not 
sensible, and feed him every time he wakes up or cries, it will 
only make him more likely to wake up and cry. Then he will 
soon turn into a little tyrant, who will make himself and every- 
body else very unhappy. 

By the time a baby is a year old, his waking times are much 
longer, and his sleeping hours far shorter. Still, he should 
always go to bed by six o'clock, and stay there twelve or thirteen 
hours, with very little care or attention during that time, receiv- 
ing food once or twice only, as the doctor thinks best. 

Babies of that age also take two naps every day, one in the 
morning and one in the afternoon. Until nearly five years of 
age, every child needs a nap in the daytime, and about twelve 
hours' sleep at night, if you wish him to keep well and grow 
strong. 

After that, and until ten, a long night rest of twelve or thir- 
teen hours will give him enough sleep. Children between ten 
and fourteen should always get about eleven hours* rest, and 
for the next few years, especially if growing fast, nine or ten 
hours' sleep will not prove a bit too much. 

It is far wiser to go to bed at six or eight o'clock and get up 
early, if you have any studying to do, than to sit up until ten or 
eleven, and then rise only in time to rush off to school. In fact, 
most children are far too tired and sleepy to do any study- 
ing at all at night; but in the morning, their brains are so 



180 



Yourself 



rested and bright, that they can learn much faster and better. 

If you rise early to study, it is well to drink a glass of milk 

slowly, and to eat a cracker or piece of bread before you set to 

work. If you drink your milk fast, or all at once, it is likely to 

form into a big hard 
lump in your stomach, 
and then your little 
Dwarf will have such a 
bad time rolling it about, 
and pulling it to pieces, 
that it may put him out 
of temper for the rest of 
the day. 

So be careful of his feel- 
ings, and drink your milk 
slowly. Then, it will 
form down in your stom- 
ach, into many little balls, which your Dwarf can handle 
very easily, and get rid of long before it is time for the family 
breakfast. 




Sip Milk Slowly 



Home after Dark 



Boys and girls who go to bed very early and study in the 
morning, are much more apt to do good work in school, and to 
stand well in their classes, than those who sit up late. 



Home after Dark 1 8 1 

Late hours are very bad for children of all ages. Besides 
that, no child or very young person should ever be out alone 
after nightfall. Mothers who allow their children to remain 
out on the street after dark, are really very unkind to them. 
Sunlight and air are good for everybody, and children should 
have plenty of play, but after dark they should always be 
gathered in like chickens, close under mother's wing, so that 
no harm can come to them. 

It is much nicer to be at home with father and mother, than 
wandering around the streets like a stray cat. Mothers who 
are careful of their children always try to keep them in, but if 
you have no kind mother to look after you, you should make it 
a rule to watch yourself, and never to stir away from home 
after dark. 

Girls, in particular, cannot be too careful about this matter. 
As very bad girls stroll around at night, good girls will surely 
be mistaken for bad if they are seen out of doors after dark. 
In fact, no decent woman ever goes out alone after nightfall, 
unless she has to do so. 

In that case, she goes straight about her business, looking 
neither right nor left, and hurries back home as quickly as she 
can, so that every one who sees her may know that she is not 
out for her pleasure, but through necessity. None of you girls 
should ever pout or be cross when mother insists on your com- 
ing in at nightfall, and staying in the house until the next morn- 
ing. It is the kindest and wisest thing she can do, and instead 



182 



Yourself 



of grumbling, you ought to put your arms around her neck, and 
hug her for being so careful of you. 

Many a boy and girl has learned evil ways, and gotten into 
bad habits which ruined a life, merely because allowed to 
linger out of doors and stroll around for pleasure after dark. 

You may be out many times without any harm happening to 




The Best Way to Spend Evenings. 

you, but it is always best to keep on the safe side of things, and 
in this case that means to learn to be happy and to make others 
happy in your own home. 

I know several large families of boys and girls, who grew 
up to manhood and womanhood without ever having gone out 
at night for pleasure, save in the company of their father or 
mother. These men and women now often say how glad they 



About Beds and Bedding 183 

are that their parents were so strict about this matter, and their 
hearts are very sore when they see swarms of young people out 
in the streets at night, and think how sorry all those youngsters 
will feel, later on, to remember that they spent so many pre- 
cious hours in that way. 

About Beds and Bedding 

If you have eaten just enough plain, wholesome food, 
drunk pure water, worked and played hard, and done only 
what is right, you will have no trouble in falling asleep almost 
as soon as your head touches the pillow, never mind how early 
you go to bed. 

To have a good night's rest, it is often wise not to play or 
work too hard just before you go to bed. Then, too, make sure 
that your skin is quite clean, that your night clothes are loose, 
and that your bed is neatly made. 

Next, see that your windows are open in such a way as to 
supply plenty of fresh air, without the wind blowing in on you, 
and that there are enough blankets on your bed to keep you 
just comfortably warm but not too hot. 

Lie on your back or side, straightening out your limbs and 
back, and do not curl up like a dog or a caterpillar. A hard 
mattress and a thin pillow make the very best kind of a bed for 
growing boys and girls, each of whom should sleep alone 
whenever it can be managed. 

Doctors tell us that in some strange way, two people sleep- 



184 Yourself 

ing together are very likely to sap one another's strength. An 
old person sleeping with a child, robs the little one of much of 
the strength it needs to grow and be happy. When children 
sleep together, they may not rob each other of so much strength, 
but they are sure to disturb one another, and not to get as much, 
or as restful sleep, as if each were alone in his bed. 

I know some country children who make their own beds by 
gathering nice clean corn-husks, drying them carefully, tearing 
them into narrow strips, and stuffing them into clean bed ticks. 
This makes fine mattresses, which can be well shaken up every 
day. Straw in a bed tick, also makes a good mattress, so you 
see any child can have his own bed at very small cost. Be- 
sides, a cot can now be bought for a dollar or less, and any 
child who is willing to work, can easily earn that much money 
to buy a bed of his or her own. 

In some houses where there are many children, and only 
very little room, some fathers have cleverly made "double deck 
beds," such as are seen also in the newsboys' lodging-houses. 
In this way, each child can sleep alone, and still the bed takes 
up less floor room than one broad enough for two or more 
youngsters. 

As for baby, a clothes basket padded with cotton batting, 
and neatly lined with calico that can be washed, makes an ex- 
cellent bed. One woman I heard about had such a cradle for 
her baby. By means of a clothes-line, and a few small pulleys 
screwed into the ceiling, this basket was cleverly swung right 



Lying Abed Mornings 185 

over the foot of her bed, so that she could raise it above or 
lower it down on the bed whenever she pleased. 

Thus, if the baby cried or needed anything in the night, the 
mother stretched out her hand, loosened the rope from its fast- 
enings near the bedhead, and lowered the basket beside her. 
Then she could reach the baby, without getting up, or catching 
cold by stepping out of a warm bed on a cold floor. As soon 
as baby had been cared for, the basket was swung up again, 
out of reach of all harm, yet not near enough to the ceiling for 
the child to breathe the bad or hot air which is always found 
there. Of course, such a cradle is good for a small baby only, 
for when the youngsters begin to climb, it is far better to have a 
crib for them, with a good strong railing all around it. 

Lying Abed Mornings 

If you don't sleep well, if you have bad dreams, and if you 
wake up frightened, you may be quite sure it is because you 
have done something you should not. You have either eaten 
something which was not good for you, breathed bad air, drunk 
impure water, worked or played too much or too little, or have 
been too excited. All you need to do is to watch yourself 
closely the next day, and if you are wise, and live aright, you 
will soon sleep soundly all night, and not know a thing until 
you wake up in the morning. 

Some children get in the bad habit of lying abed mornings, 



186 Yourself 

stretching and gaping, and taking another little nap. This is, 
as we have said, a very bad habit. You should, instead, train 
yourself to hop right out of bed when you wake up, and not 
waste any time in the waking process. In fact, a cold water 
bath is the very best thing to wake any one up very thoroughly. 

A great English General (Wellington) used to make his 
soldiers rise at once when the call sounded, for he always said: 
"When it is time to turn over, it is time to turn out." Our own 
great general, George Washington, also believed in doing 
everything promptly, for when a young officer was tardy one 
morning, and kept Washington and his staff waiting, he sternly 
said: "Sir, you may choose to waste your own time, but you 
have no right to waste ours." 

Time spent sleeping is never wasted, provided we have 
earned the right to sleep, and that we need rest. But the lazy 
boy or girl, who drags about from one easy chair to another all 
day, who neither plays nor studies with any energy, has cer- 
tainly not earned the right to rest. Still, such children do sleep 
a great deal, very often, but their sleep does them no good. 
They crawl slowly out of bed every morning, and are heavy 
and stupid. Indeed they well deserve the name of "Sleepy- 
head," which is sure to be given them, and they are not half as 
nice and attractive as the wideawake youngsters, who are 
busy all day and sleep "like tops" all night. 

The harder you work, the more you deserve and the more 
you need a good night's rest. Sleep will give your tired brain 



The Way to Study 187 

a chance to rest, and while you are thus lost to everything, your 
blood-boats can go on carrying material to your weary muscles 
and nerves, so that they too can make up for the loss of the day, 
and be strong and fresh when you again need them on the mor- 
row. 

If you make the best use of your waking hours, you can 
surely get all the needful work done without robbing yourself 
of any sleep. Besides, that kind of a theft is sure to do you a 
great deal of harm. People who Wont sleep, cant sleep after 
awhile, even when they wish to do so, and if one does not get 
sleep enough, one is sure to feel ill, and perhaps in time to be- 
come crazy. 

The Way to Study 

I have seen children open their books to study, think one 
minute of their lesson, look around the next to see what mother 
is doing, then read a word or two, listen to what father is say- 
ing, stare out of the window, and only come back to the lesson 
every once in a while. 

It takes such youngsters a very long time to learn even the 
simplest thing, and then they only half know it. But, if they 
put all their minds on their lesson, thought of that, and that 
only, tried hard to understand just what it meant, and to fix it 
firmly in their minds, it would soon be packed away safely in 
the brain storehouse, and the memory servant would bring it 
out perfectly clear whenever the master chose to call for it. A 



188 Yourself 

few minutes of intent work is far better than hours of dawdling 
study. 

There was once a poor boy, named Elihu Burritt. He had 
to earn his living by blowing the bellows for a cross blacksmith. 
This boy was very eager to leam and as he could not afford to 
buy books, — which were very costly in his day, — he borrowed 
all he could. 

As he had no time or place to sit down and read comfort- 
ably, he used to prop these books, wide open, on a beam just 
over his bellows. Every time he raised his hand to grasp the 
handle of the bellows, he read as many words as he could 
catch in that glance. Then he would think hard of these 
words, while hanging on to the bellows' handle, which had to 
be forced down by his weight. When he rose again, the lad 
read the next few words, and he went on so, until he had fin- 
ished page after page, and book after book. 

By making such good use of these few seconds between 
every pull of his bellows, this brave boy not only managed to 
educate himself well, but learned to read many different lan- 
guages, and became one of the most learned men in the world. 

You see, he trained his eye to be quick and find the place 
where he left off reading, his memory to receive a thing which 
he had seen only once, and his mind to think hard about what- 
ever he read. 

Most boys, placed as he was, would have declared that 
they had no time to study, for they had to work hard all day; 



The Senses 1 89 

but this one knew that a few minutes at a time, given every day 
to any study, with the firm resolve to do one's best, are bound 
to bring about great results in the end. 

Do not wait, therefore, until you have plenty of time to 
begin anything. Begin now. Use all the little odds and ends 
of time you have, learn to do things in such a way as to save 
time, and before long you will find out that you have leisure 
enough to do many things if you only choose to do them. 

The Senses 

Man has five senses as they are called. These are the 
means by which he can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Most 
of us have all these senses complete, but a few poor children 
are deaf, or blind, or without any sense of smell or taste. Chil- 
dren who have not the use of all five senses miss a great deal 
of the good we have to enjoy, and we should, therefore, be 
very kind to them and try to help them in any way we can. 

You all know that we see by means of our eyes, which we 
have called until now the windows of our little houses. But 
eyes are much more than windows. I suppose most of you 
children have seen a camera, with which photographs are 
taken. Well, our eyes are the finest and best cameras ever 
made. 

Every picture which passes in front of those windows, when 
the curtains (eyelids) are raised, is quickly photographed. 



90 



Yourself 



The photograph servant — who, we will make believe lives 
there — takes one snap-shot after another, and then his helpers 
stow all these photographs away in the brain storehouse, where 
the master can call for them whenever he pleases, and look 

them all over as often as he likes. 

If we look at pleasant people and 
beautiful things, we have many lovely 
pictures to stow away in our private 
picture gallery, but if we look at cross 
people and hateful things, we have 
pictures which can give us no pleasure 
to look over later on. 

These wonderful cameras of ours 
are very delicate. As we have only 
two of them, and cannot get new ones 
when these are out of order or worn 
out, we must take very good care of 
them. To take the best care of your 
eyes, you should always keep them 
clean, never rub or touch them with 
dirty fingers, and work or study only 
when the light is good and when you 
are not tired. 

If you read or sew when it grows dark, when the light is 
dim, when the sun is shining brightly on your book or work, 
or when you are tired, you are likely to strain your eyes. Never 




The Eyes Are Like a 
Camera 



About Hearing 191 

try to look hard at very bright objects — like the sun, — and do 
not strain your eyes or tire them in any way. 

If you cannot see well, you should have your eyes examined, 
and wear glasses, so that your eyes may be helped to do you as 
good service as they can for as long a time as possible. 

Baby's eyes need special care if you wish him to see well 
when he grows up. So be very careful not to let the sun shine 
right into them when he is in his carriage, and place the light 
where it cannot fall upon him when he is asleep. 

Besides that, you should keep baby's eyes clean, by wash- 
ing them carefully every day. Eyes are so delicate that they 
must be bathed very, very gently, but plenty of water is good 
for them at all times. If they feel tired, it is often good to give 
them an extra washing, with water as hot as you can bear it. 

One can also train one's eyes to see more or less quickly all 
that one wishes them to take in. Deaf mute children whom I 
know, can glance at pictures and take in every detail in a flash. 
They often surprise me because they see and think so well. 
Those children have learned to see what their friends say by 
watching their lips. You see they are making good use of their 
eyes! They learn to talk by imitating the motions of other 
people and feeling how they use the muscles of their throats. 

About Hearing 

Blind children learn mostly by hearing and by touch. Their 
sense of touch is so very quick and so delicate, that they can 



192 



Yourself 



read raised print as fast and as well as other children can read 
ordinary print. Some children, who are blind and deaf, like 
Helen Keller, for instance, are obliged to learn nearly every- 
thing by means of touch alone. 

This brave girl worked and worked, until at sixteen she 

knew enough to enter col- 
lege, passing the same ex- 
aminations as older girls, 
who could both see and 
hear, and getting high 
marks, too! 

In college she studied 
so faithfully that she won 
her diploma, like the girls 
who could see and hear. 
She then decided to spend 
her life in helping the 
blind, deaf, and dumb 
and is now leading a busy 
useful life. I am sure you 
will never hear of a 
brighter or braver girl, or 
one who deserves more 
praise for being always cheerful, hopeful and busy in spite of 
her great trials. 

We, who have all our senses, ought not only to be very thank- 




Hearing by Touch 



About Hearing 



93 



ful, but to see that we make the very best use of them. They 
were given us to use, for good or evil just as we choose, but if we 
only make good use of them we know we will be a blessing 
to ourselves and to everybody else. 

Besides training our eyes to see good things, to like those 
best, and to dwell as little as possible on those which are really 
ugly or hateful, we 
can teach our ears to 
love beautiful sounds 
and to hear by prefer- 
ence all that is good. 
The ears you know, 
are the telephones of 
our little house. Any 
one can call up any- 
thing he pleases 
through an ear-tele- 
phone, which receives 
all kinds of messages. 
But, the master can heed these or not, just as he pleases, and a 
wise master listens only to what is good and right. 

Whenever anything wrong or unpleasant is being said, he 
quickly sends a message down to the hands, bidding them close 
the openings to the ear-telephone, so that no more of the talk that 
he does not like shall come up into the station to be stowed away 
in his brain. 

13 




The Ear Is a Sort of Telephone 



194 Yourself 

I would advise all children to stop up their ears tight, in this 
way, whenever any one says anything which they feel is not 
right, and to run away, for they surely do not want their brain 
storehouse all filled up with memories of bad words, evil sug- 
gestions, naughty or unkind speeches or mean thoughts! 

Our ears, like our eyes, are very delicate indeed. They, 
too, need to be kept quite clean, by frequent and careful wash- 
ings. Never poke anything into your ears, save the tip of your 
finger or a corner of your sponge, wash-cloth, or handkerchief, 
and be sure that nature will take care of any wax which you 
cannot reach in that way. 

Keep your ears clean, do not let a sharp draught blow into 
them, try not to let them get too cold, and if they ache, never 
use anything but hot water, hot cloths, or a few drops of sweet 
oil heated in a spoon and carefully dropped into the hole. If 
this does not cure your earache, it will be best for you to see a 
doctor, because the ears and eyes are very delicate and pre- 
cious and nobody can afford to neglect them. If you are too 
poor to pay a doctor, you know you can always go to the near- 
est hospital, where you will be taken care of, and where they 
will give you medicine and advice free of charge. 

QUESTIONS. — How can you exercise and how can you rest your brain? How 
much sleep should babies have, and how much is best for you? What is the best 
time to study, early in the morning, or late at night, and why? Why should you 
drink milk slowly? Where is the best place for boys and girls after dark? What 
is the best kind of a bed for growing children? If you don't sleep well, and have 
bad dreams, what is the matter? Is it right to lie abed late, or should one rise right 
away when called? Describe two ways of studying; which is better? Could you 



About Hearing 195 

tell how Elihu Burritt got his education? How many senses have you; what are 
they called, and what do they do? What kind of pictures can you pack away in 
your brain store-house? How should you take care of your eyes and what kind of 
a light should you have when you wish to read or sew? If any talk is going on 
around you, which you should not hear, what order should the house-master send 
to the hands and feet? 



CHAPTER XIII 
Good and Bad Drinking Habits 

YOU all like fairy tales, do you not? Well, nearly every- 
body has liked them at some time in his life, and in 
olden times many people believed that fairy tales were 
quite true. They thought, for instance, that somewhere in the 
world there was a wonderful fountain, and that if one could 
only drink of its waters and bathe in them, one would become 
young and strong, and remain so forever after. 

The belief in the "Fountain of Youth" was so great, that 
many men spent their lives seeking for it, and when they failed 
to find it in Europe, some of them even came over to America 
in the vain hope of discovering it here at last. 

Other men fancied that it was possible to find a Water of 
Life, or a medicine which would make an old man feel young 
again, and would prevent his ever dying. They began to mix 
and boil all sorts of drugs and drinks, and finally one of them, 
by accident, found out the way to make brandy or distilled 
liquor. He tasted it and when his cheeks flushed, his body grew 
warm, and he felt like singing and dancing, he thought he had 
surely found what he sought. He gave some of it to his friends, 
who also felt very young and lively when they had drunk 
196 



Good and Bad Drinking Habits 197 

it, and all declared that the Water of Life was found! 

For many, many years people believed as he did, that those 
who drank of the Water of Life would live forever. But soon 
they found out their mistake, for the warmth and feeling of 
jollity lasted only a short time, and they had to drink more 
and more of the liquor to feel any good effects from it. 

By and by some died who had drunk most freely of the 
Water of Life. And then every one knew that the new discov- 
ery was a fraud! Still, many people li\ed the taste of it, en- 
joyed the feeling of warmth and merriment which it aroused, 
and thought that it did them much good. They said that al- 
though the liquor could not make one live forever, it gave new 
strength and spirits, and could cure all manner of diseases. 

This belief, — which has caused much sorrow, as you will 
see, — was all wrong, but it spread and spread, until almost 
everywhere men called for drinks containing more or less of the 
so-called Water of Life, which, had it been rightly named, 
would have been called the Water of Death. The drink which 
caused the feelings I have described, was really harmful and it 
is the same which we now call alcohol. 

As the real Water of Life was very costly, some men soon 
found out ways of making cheap imitations, and other less 
costly drinks, which contained a small part of the same mixture, 
and therefore satisfied the taste of those who clamored for it. 

These drinks are now made and sold everywhere, and 
although some time ago people began to find out that 



198 Yourself 

they were very bad indeed for most human beings, they still 
are used everywhere and millions of dollars are spent for them 
in our country every year. 

Even doctors were long cheated by these drinks, which con- 
tained alcohol, for they noticed that the heart beat faster, the 
skin flushed, and that new strength and courage seemed to enter 
into the people to whom they gave it. Still, little by little they 
learned that while it seemed to do good for a few minutes, it 
really did well people a great deal of harm, and also injured 
the sick in many cases. 

They discovered that all drinks which contain any alcohol 
act just like a whip. You know that when you whip up a 
tired horse, he will make a new effort; but whipping does not 
add one bit to his strength, and the new effort he makes only 
results in exhausting him sooner and more completely. 

The Yeast Plant 

As I said before, it was a long, long time before even the 
wisest doctors began to suspect that alcohol was mostly a cheat 
and generally harmful. Meantime, many other doctors, and 
countless men and women, praised it, sang about it, wrote poems 
upon it, and drank it freely whenever they chose. 

In fact, some kind of liquor was always offered wherever you 
went, and you were considered rude if you did not drink it. At 
marriages, christenings, burials, at church raisings, balls, and 



The Yeast Plant 199 

dinners, people drank, and there was a time when some even 
prided themselves upon the amount they could drink without 
falling down under the table, dead drunk. 

While they, in their ignorance, were acting thus, other wise 
people were little by little finding out all they could about the 
evil effects of alcohol, and trying to show how wrong it is to 
ruin one's health by touching it in any form. 

After much study and many experiments, — for they really 
Wanted to find that it was something else, and not alcohol which 
was at the root of all the harm — wise men discovered, as I tell 
you, that any drink which contains the least drop of alcohol is 
bad for human beings in general, and that, it is after all noth- 
ing but a cheat. 

They found out that when you squeeze grapes, or apples, or 
any other kind of fruit, you get some juice which contains more 
or less sugar, because most fruits are sweet. Clinging to the 
skin of the fruit thus squeezed, and floating around in the air 
we breathe, there are many, many little seeds of what is called 
the yeast plant. When these fall into the fruit juice, they begin 
to grow, and as they grow they change much of the sugar into 
alcohol. Then the juice bubbles and boils over the jug in 
which it is kept, just as if a fire, which you cannot see, were 
made under it. Still, the fruit juice never gets really hot, al- 
though its taste and nature change entirely. 

Because apples and grapes are good for people, many men 
will tell you that wine and cider can do no harm. But a very 



200 Yourself 

few hours after the juice has been squeezed out of these fruits, 
we know that the little yeast plant has begun its evil work, 
and that it is busy changing the sugar — the food part of fruit — 
into something quite different, which is not food at all, and 
which is really a kind of poison. 

Beer and ale are made from grain. The starch of the grain 
is first changed into sugar, then the yeast plant sets to work to 
make the sugar into alcohol. People will tell you that as beer 
and ale are made from grain, you have all the strength of the 
grain in liquid form. This is not true. By careful study and 
experiment, it has been found out that there is more real food 
and strength contained in the flour which you can hold on the 
point of your knife blade, than in eight quarts of the best beer 
that was ever made! 

Although people found out that alcohol was harmful some 
time ago, only a few were willing to believe it, and even those 
few little suspected what very bad effects could come from 
using it, and that it was to be found in so many things. 

You will, no doubt, be greatly surprised when I tell you 
that there is a great deal of alcohol in every loaf of bread which 
is ready to be put into the oven. The alcohol gets into the 
bread by means of the yeast, which is put into it to make it 
light. 

When the bread is put into the oven, the alcohol gets very 
hot and flies off in steam. In getting out of the bread it 
makes some of the little holes which we can see, and which 



Harmful Drinks 201 

make good bread so light and spongy. All the alcohol in a 
loaf of bread has been turned to steam, and has gone out of it 
even before it is entirely baked, and as no taste of it is left in our 
bread, we can eat it without any fear of harm. 

Harmful Drinks 

Some good women, who know how bad alcohol is for every- 
body, often make currant wine and root beer. Because they 
make it themselves, and do not put any alcohol in it, they will 
tell you in all good faith: "You can drink that without fear. 
There is not a drop of alcohol in it. I made it myself, and I 
can answer for it that it is a harmless drink." 

The poor souls are, however, sorely mistaken. Unless they 
boiled the juice hard and bottled it up, right away, in air-tight 
bottles, they could not keep the yeast plant out of it, or prevent 
its growing and changing the sugar in their wine or beer into 
alcohol. 

Even when making preserves, and screwing them up into 
air-tight jars, you cannot quite be sure of shutting out all yeast 
plant seeds. That some do slip in at times, is proved by the 
fact that the fruit in our jars sometimes ferments, and that 
when you want to use it you often find it spoiled. 

There is alcohol in nearly every kind of drink, and wherever 
there is alcohol there is danger. Alcohol never does Well peo- 
ple any good, and it does a great deal of harm to nearly every 
one who makes a habit of drinking it. 



202 



Yourself 



The only drinks in which no alcohol, or other harmful 
things can be found, and which are really safe in every way, 




Making Preserves 



are pure water, milk and not too sweet lemonade. Surely 
those are enough to quench the thirst of any reasonable boy or 
girl. There are many other drinks which are only a little hurt- 



The Harm A Icohol Does 203 

ful, so little that it hardly matters, but brandy, whisky, rum, 
gin, ginger-ale, ale, beer, root beer, and all kinds of wines and 
liquors are sure to contain more or less alcohol, even if those 
who sell them neither know — nor wish you to know, — how 
much of that stuff is to be found in them. 

The Harm Alcohol Does 

Some of you may wonder what harm alcohol does, so I will 
try to explain so that you will be sure to understand. 

A man was once wounded in such a way that he had a hole 
in his body, through which the doctors could look right into his 
stomach and find out just what was going on inside there. 
They saw that every time this man drank anything containing 
alcohol, his stomach got very red and sore looking, and stayed 
so a long time. 

You see, alcohol is a drink, so strong, that it burns and stings 
the delicate skin of the mouth, the food tube, and the stomach. 

Alcohol itself does not stay in the stomach long, but is soon 
sucked up by the little tubes, and carried off to the liver. The 
Liver Dwarf hates it, because it makes all his tubes red and 
sore, and after a while it hardens them so they can do no more 
good work. 

As the liver cannot do anything with alcohol, it has to pass 
on into the blood. When it gets to the heart, the Pumping 
Dwarfs — who also hate alcohol — pull their ropes quicker and 
quicker to get rid of the blood-boats loaded with it. 



204 Yourself 

The blood then rushes to all parts of the body, where alcohol 
makes all the tubes red and sore, but where it does no good at 
all. When the blood-boats reach the little canals near the sur- 
face, the red shows right through the skin of the person who has 
been drinking, who therefore looks very flushed. 

When the little blood-boats laden with alcohol, reach the 
brain, the worst mischief begins. As the brain is the most deli- 
cate part of the body, it suffers most when the blood, which is 
sent to feed it, does not contain the right kind of food, or brings 
anything which can hurt it. 

Alcohol is so strong and so biting, that when it reaches the 
brain, it makes the reason servant dead drunk, and he does not 
try any longer to restrain the laughing servant, the crying ser- 
vant, or the talking servant, all of whom begin acting just as 
they please. 

I am afraid that all of you, at some time, have seen drunken 
men. Well, you know that at first they are very jolly, talk, and 
laugh aloud, and act very foolishly. But by and by — when 
the blood-boats have brought still more alcohol into the poor 
delicate brain, — the servant who sends out all the messages 
about walking, standing and moving is also overcome by the 
alcohol. It is then a man begins to stagger and wobble, and 
finally falls down in a heap, dead drunk. 

When the blood-boats bring enough alcohol to stun nearly 
all the servants up in the brain, and to put the master himself 
sound asleep, the body lies like a log. The drunken man 



Why People Drink 205 

breathes heavily, and stays in a stupor, until his skin, lungs and 
kidneys, can manage to drive enough alcohol out of the body, 
so that his servants can little by little recover their senses, and 
set to work again. 

But the servants are all very cross after alcohol has thus 
made them stupid and sleepy. They move slowly and uncer- 
tainly, and feel sick and so tired that they do their work 
very badly indeed. In fact, alcohol stays a long time in the 
body, making mischief. It has even been found that it takes 
from three to six days to get quite rid of the alcohol in one bottle 
of beer only, and still beer contains only a little that is harmful 
compared to many other drinks. 

Why People Drink 

As you have already seen, drink does harm to all the parts 
of the body, but you have as yet heard of only a small part of 
the damage it really does. 

One glass of liquor may cause as many as eight thousand ex- 
tra heart beats before the blood-boats can carry it away. Of 
course, so much extra work must make the Pumping Dwarfs 
tired and sore, especially as they dislike alcohol very much in- 
deed. 

If the heart beats eight thousand times more than usual for 
one glass of liquor, just imagine how many times extra the poor 
thing has to thump when many drinks are taken each and every 
day. No wonder that life insurance companies count that a 



206 Yourself 

man of twenty, who drinks, will not live much longer than 
thirty-five, while a man of twenty, who does not drink, will 
live to be sixty-five at least. 

As drunken men do not know what they are doing, they 
often give away all they have, or allow others to steal it; thus 
they ruin their families as well as their own health. Besides, 
a man who drinks, soon passes from the talkative, jolly stage 
of feeling, into a state of blind fury with everybody and every- 
thing. In this state, men — who when they were sober, were 
kind and good — have become like wild animals, and have 
committed awful crimes. 

Such are the bad effects of drink, that those who know, will 
tell you that seven-tenths of all the poverty and crime in the 
United States is due to alcohol. Still, in spite of this, and of 
the fact that they know it hurts them, many men will go on 
drinking. Some drink because they like the taste of the 
liquor, some because they are weak-minded, and cannot 
resist when any one makes fun of them for being afraid 
of it, and some because by drinking they have become 
the victims of the drink disease, and cannot stop them- 
selves any more. 

Those who just like the taste of alcohol, or who drink it 
merely because they wish to do as their friends do, are self- 
indulgent, weak-minded fools. They are probably men, — or 
women alas, — who, when young children, were either 
indulged or neglected, and who never did anything ex- 



Why People Drink 207 

cept what they liked, and because it pleased or suited 
them to do it. 

They have no real idea of duty or self-control, and they are 
without character. When they were young, every time a mes- 
sage came up to the telegraph servant, their answer always was: 
"Do that because it pleases me." The result was that the 
selfish, self-indulgent storehouse had many new cells stowed 
away in it every day. After a while, the servant, said: "Oh, 
my master thinks of himself only, and always does as he likes 
best, regardless of the feelings or rights of others. It is no use 
even to ask what he wants me to do. I know it already.'* 
Then the servant sent out new messages, ordering the taste to 
please itself, and thus more cells were added to the self-indul- 
gent storehouse. 

If the master drinks because he is a coward, and dares not 
say "No," even when he knows it would be right to do so, new 
cells are daily added to the storehouse where all the cowardly 
deeds are bottled up, and the man sinks lower and lower in 
everybody's esteem. 

Such a person can stop drinking any moment the master in his 
little house really makes up his mind not to do it any more. But 
the servants have so thoroughly learned bad habits that they 
will have to be watched very closely if he wishes to reform. 
Every time a message comes: "Here is a glass of liquor, 
what is to be done with it?" these servants, — unless the 
master interferes quickly and decidedly — will answer back: 



208 Yourself 

"Drink it, of course. That is what master always orders. 
There are any number of cells here saying 'Drink,' and hardly 
any at all saying, 'Don't drink.' 

You see, do you not, how very watchful such a master has 
to be to prevent his servants acting in the usual way before he 
can stop them. But, after he has stopped them many, many 
times, and when the "Don't drink" cells get to be more and more 
numerous in his brain storehouse, the servant is no longer in such 
a hurry to answer: "Master always pleases his taste," or "Mas- 
ter is afraid to say no," and says instead: "Just wait a minute, 
and I'll find out what master wishes this time. There are so 
many cells up here which say 'Drink' and so many which say 
'Don't drink,' that I am quite bewildered, and don't know any 
more what to do." 

Thus, any person can get rid of a bad habit. But it is far, 
far easier never to get into bad habits at all. If a house master, 
from the very first, always directs his servants never to touch 
drink because it is bad for the body, there will be no "drink 
cells" at all in his brain storehouse, and after a while his ser- 
vants will answer all such messages themselves saying: "Oh! 
take that stuff away, for master knows far better than ever to 
drink a drop of it." 

Why You Should Not Drink 

Some men have brains built in such a way that the very 
least little drop of alcohol is not only bad for them, but may 



Why You Should Not Drink 



209 



start a terrible disease. Sometimes their brains can more easily 
take this awful disease because their father or mother, or even 
their grandfather or grandmother, used to drink. 

You all know that you have mouths, eyes, noses, hair or 
some other feature like your father or mother. Well, just as 
some parts of the outside of your body are exact copies of the 
same parts of one of your parents, some of the inside parts of 
your body are like theirs too. 

A man who drinks, and who has "drink cells" in his brain 
storehouse, is most likely to have children, whose storehouses 
seem just aching to get full of "drink cells" too. If such chil- 
dren drink once, because they 
"want to know what it tastes 
like," or because "one little 
drink cannot do me any harm," 
they begin storing away "drink 
cells," and so perhaps give that 
bad disease the very chance it 
was seeking to start and grow 
and take such a strong hold 
upon them that it will never let 
them go again. 

Children whose parents 
drink, therefore, should be very, very careful never to touch any 
kind of liquor, however mild. To strengthen their brains they 
should eat wholesome food, breathe fresh air, take plenty of 




A Safe Drink 



14 



210 Yourself 

exercise, keep clean, and train their bodies and minds in every- 
way to do only that which is right and noble. If they begin 
early, if they try very hard, and if they never give in, or never 
give up trying to get into good habits, such children will make 
the finest and best men and women in our country; men and wo- 
men whom every one will respect, and whom all will admire 
and try to imitate. They will deserve much more credit for 
being good, and never yielding to the temptation to drink, than 
any of the people who never have to struggle against such a 
temptation. 

There are many people who laugh and joke when they see 
a man stagger along under the influence of drink, or talk and 
act foolishly. Then there are some who make others drunk just 
to see what they will say or do. The people who laugh are 
thoughtless, or heartless, and those who make others do wrong 
for fun are wicked. Now, it is not right to be even thoughtless, 
for every one should feel it a duty to help and encourage his 
neighbor to do only that which is right and good. 

There are some very good people who think that all drunk- 
ards are equally vile. These people evidently do not know, or 
they will not believe, that while some drinkers are only weak 
and evil-minded others are really very ill with a disease, which, 
when once it has taken hold of them, they can no longer resist. 

Doctors, who know about the drink disease, despise the men 
who drink merely because the liquor tastes good, but pity the 
poor men who drink because they are victims of this awful sick- 



Stronger Without Than With Liquor 21 1 

ness. Most diseases can be cured, however, if rightly treated 
and in time, and many a drunkard could be saved, if his family 
and friends only knew what to do, and were willing to do it with 
all their might. 

If you ever wish to help cure a person with this drink dis- 
ease, you should see that he is kept warm and comfortable, that 
he has plenty of sleep and exercise, fresh air in abundance, a 
really clean skin, plain food nicely cooked, and that his thoughts 
are made to dwell on good things only, as much as possible. 

Such a man needs to be watched as closely as a crazy man, 
so that he does not harm himself by drinking. Just as crazy 
men often have to be shut up in asylums for the insane, these 
drunken men often have to be locked up in asylums, where they 
take care of people suffering from the drink disease, and try to 
cure them of their terrible trouble. 

Stronger Without Than With Liquor 

It is because drink does such fearful harm to many people, 
that there are laws in our country saying when, where and 
how liquor can be sold. In some places, where the voters have 
at last realized the harm that liquor can do, there are also laws 
forbidding the sale of all drinks in which alcohol can be found. 
When you get old enough to vote, or to influence those who do 
vote, perhaps you will try to stop the sale of liquor, as much 
as you can, so that the terrible drink disease shall spread no 
further, and our country go to pieces as all the countries have 



212 Yourself 

done in turn where wrong-doing was not stopped for good and 
all. 

When few or no drunkards shall be left on the globe, much 
of the unhappiness will be ended, there will be far less crime, 
and much less sickness. Doctors tell us that seven out of every 
ten sick people in the city hospitals are ill, only because they or 
their parents drank, or because they were hurt by people who 
were drunk. There is in one part of New York City, a saloon 
for every fifty-eight persons, and a school for every sixty-six 
thousand. Do you think that can be good for the people or for 
the city? If you could vote would you not vote to have that 
changed? 

Until now, in speaking of drink we have talked about drunk- 
ards only. But there are ever and ever so many men and wo- 
men, who never were drunk in their lives, who only drink a very 
little, and who do not know or believe that even a little alcohol, 
in any form, can do them or their children any harm. Some say: 
"You see I am far from strong, so I have to take a little wine or 
beer to give me strength." 

If they only knew it, the wine or beer does not give them any 
strength at all. Of course, there was a time when everybody 
thought it did, but now a few people know better. There are 
clever machines which measure people's strength. Men who 
said they drank because liquor made them stronger, have been 
tested by these machines. They were tried when they had not 
taken a drop of any kind of liquor for many, many days, and 



Stronger Without Than With Liquor 



213 



when they themselves said that they had no strength at all. 
Then they were tried again when they had taken some liquor, 
and said they felt much stronger and were sure they could do 
much better. 

Strange to relate, the machines proved that they were really 
much stronger when they had not drunk and felt weak, than 
when they had drunk and felt strong. It is in this way that 
doctors have proved that drink is a cheat, and that it does not 
give well people the strength that so many of them sup- 
pose. 

Another proof that liquor 
does not give strength is the fact 
that college-teams are never al- 
lowed to touch a single drop of 
it, while the men are training for 
their great matches. Don't you 
suppose the trainers would 
make them drink if there was any chance that alcohol would 
make them stronger? 

During the Spanish-American war our sailors were not al- 
lowed to have any liquor when about to fight, while the Span- 
iards received their usual allowance. The result was that our 
men won victory after victory, lost no ships and very few lives, 
while the Spaniards were beaten, lost all their ships, and ever 
so many of their men. 




Foot-ball Players Must Not 
Touch Liquor 



214 Yourself 

About Temperance 

Some men say that they must drink to keep warm, especially 
when they are going out in the cold. They are sorely mistaken 
in thinking that drink will make or keep them warm. Drink 
will only drive more hot blood near their skin, where they can 
feel it, but where the cold air will strike and cool it off sooner. 
Then it will go back to the heart much cooler than it was be- 
fore. 

In Russia, where it is very cold, we are told that the officers, 
who have to go out with the troops, smell the breath of every 
man before they start. Any man whose breath shows that he 
has been drinking, is sent right back to camp or to the barracks, 
for the officers know that he will be the first to be overcome by 
the cold, and the most likely to be frost-bitten or frozen to 
death. 

When explorers go far north, or south, on journeys of dis- 
covery, trying to reach the north or south pole, they no longer 
drink themselves, or allow their men to drink, because they, 
have found that the only way to keep the body warm enough 
is not to drink liquor of any kind. 

Some engineers were surveying in South America, and 
climbed a very high mountain. They reached a place where 
the snow never melts, even in the hottest summers, for the 
higher you go the colder it gets. 

These engineers had to spend the night up there, amid snow 



A bout Temperance 2 1 5 

and ice. Some of them drank a great deal of liquor "to keep 
warm," others drank a little "to take the chill off," but a few 
of the men were wise enough not to drink at all. When morn- 
ing came, those who drank a great deal were dead — frozen 
stiff, — those who drank a little, had badly frost-bitten hands 
and feet ; while those who had not touched liquor at all were 
alive and well, ready to bury or nurse the others. 

In hot countries it is equally dangerous to drink, and during 
the many wars in Africa, the generals who have been most 
successful are those who neither drank themselves nor allowed 
their men to drink. In fact it is now clearly shown that Well 
people do not need liquor at any time, because it cannot really 
help them in any way. On the contrary, it always does them 
some harm, although many of them do not realize that the 
troubles they have often come from drink only. 

Still, as long as people want liquor of any kind, it will be 
made and sold. Because liquor does harm and causes much 
sin and unhappiness many of the temperance people say that 
all those who make and sell it are very wicked men. This is 
not quite true. 

Many makers and sellers of liquor never touch it themselves, 
and teach their children to leave it alone; but they say that as 
long as people will have it, it is far better that they should 
make and sell it, because they at least will give the people the 
best liquor that can be made. 

Many of these men did not know when they were boys that 



216 Yourself 

liquor could do any harm unless too much of it was taken, for 
if you drink too much water or too much milk, you can harm 
your health too. Temperance really means just enough of 
anything and no more. 

A man, who when a boy, always heard that there was no 
harm at all in dealing in liquor, or even drinking a little of it, 
has this idea so deeply rooted in his brain, that it is not likely 
any one can ever change it. 

Many of us think that if most of the men who make liquor, 
who sell it, and who drink it, had only been told, when boys, 
just what it is and what harm it can do, they would never 
have touched it at all, and would certainly have chosen an- 
other way of making their living. 

You boys, who read such books as this, and who are taught 
in school while you are young, all the harm that alcohol can 
do, will, therefore, be greatly to blame, if, when you grow up 
and can do as you please, you ever drink, or help to make or to 
sell any of the drinks which have caused so much sin, sorrow 
and shame in this world. 

The Use of Alcohol 

You have already heard all the bad about alcohol that I care 
to tell you. Now I am going to tell you some good about it, 
and there is really a great deal of good to say. It is not the fault 
of poor alcohol itself, if some men have made and still make 
bad use of it. 



The Use of Alcohol 217 

Alcohol is just splendid to burn. It makes a nice clear 
flame without any smoke at all. If you put it in a lamp, and 
hang a small kettle over the flames, you can have boiling water 
in a very short time, and the bottom of your kettle will be quite 
clean when you 
are through using 
it. 

When you have 
sick people in the 
house, or when you 
want to heat 
baby's food at 
night, an alcohol 
lamp is often very 
convenient. Besides, dentists, jewelers, and many other skilled 
workmen are very glad indeed to use alcohol lamps for much 
of their fine work. 

If you put any dead animal, or a piece of flesh in alcohol, it 
will keep any length of time without spoiling. Doctors and 
scientists have all sorts of things carefully pickled in jars full 
of alcohol. In museums you can see many strange fishes, for 
instance, which look just as they did when first caught, although 
many years may have passed since they were put into those 
very jars. 

Alcohol is used for many other useful things, especially in 
chemistry. Many of the pretty colors in which our clothes and 




Alcohol Is Splendid to Burn 



218 Yourself 

ribbons are dyed could not have been made without alcohol. 
It is also used in mixing many kinds of medicines, and that is 
the main reason why you should never take any drugs save 
when the doctor tells you to do so. 

Doctors know that alcohol can be used — just like arsenic 
and many other poisons — as medicine for certain diseases. 
They know all about the body and what it needs. They also 
know that there are times when the heart, for instance, beats 
too slowly, and when the extra beats which alcohol would 
cause, would do it good. At those times, when they are quite 
sure that the harm which alcohol does elsewhere cannot over- 
balance the good it may do to the heart, they order it for their 
patients. 

When the doctor gives you some very horrid tasting medi- 
cine, you are never one bit anxious to take more doses than 
he tells you, and you often beg him to give you something else. 
But, when he gives you medicine which you learn to like, you 
not only fail to ask him to change it, but often go on taking it 
after he has told you it is not longer necessary to do so. 

That is the great danger about alcohol when used as a 
medicine. People get to like it, and then they take more of it 
than the doctor wishes. Besides, when they find out that it 
may do good in certain cases of heart or stomach trouble, they 
often fancy it must do good in all, and, like the people of old, 
act as if they believed it a cure for all diseases. 

A doctor who knows all about the human body, will give 



About Drinking 219 

alcohol (in some form) to one person, and none at all to the 
next, although the two may really have the same disease. He 
knows it will help one person to get well, but that it may make 
another very sick, and he alone can judge who should take it 
and how much they should take. 

Alcohol is not the only medicine which is really harmful, 
that people like to take. Some learn to like opium, or mor- 
phine, or chloral, or some other drug, in which these poisons 
are mixed. Soon they cannot get along without it, take more 
and more, and finally they become very ill, or even crazy from 
the effects of these drugs. 

It is because some of these poisons are so often found in pat- 
ent medicines, that it is not at all safe to take them. There is 
poison in all the headache medicines and also in the soothing 
syrups. Never, never give your baby anything of the kind, for 
if you do not kill him outright, you may ruin his health, or his 
mind. In fact, the only safe rule is never to give or take any 
medicine that your doctor does not order, and to be sure and 
take only just as much of it as he tells you. 

About Drinking 

You have already been told that the only perfectly safe 
drinks are pure water, milk and slightly sweetened lemonade. 
There are, however, many others, which, if properly made, 
and if not taken too often, can do no great harm to any one. 
Cocoa and chocolate can feed as well as warm you, so they can 



220 Yourself 

be given even to little children, although there is a little poison 
in both. 

Tea and coffee, freshly made, not too strong, and taken 
only at meal times, in reasonable quantities, do not hurt most 
grown people. But, like alcohol, tea and coffee are only cheats, 
for they make you think for a little while that you are stronger 
and livelier than you really are. 

Besides, they are very apt to make children fidgety, to keep 
them awake when they should be asleep, to spoil their appe- 
tites more or less, to make them cross and disagreeable and to 
hinder their growth. So, children, leave tea and coffee en- 
tirely alone until you are twenty, and then it is not likely you 
will care to begin drinking them any more. I know some 
grown people who are very sorry because they have drunk 
coffee and tea all their lives, but I have never yet heard of any 
one who was sorry because he or she never drank either at all. 

Your parents, who have taken tea and coffee ever since they 
were children, may think you foolish and cranky if you refuse 
to drink what they do, but you surely won't mind being teased 
a little, or even laughed at, if it is going to do you good and 
not harm in the end. If you must have something warm, drink 
hot water or hot milk. 

Boys and girls, do practice self-denial and do not drink much 
soda water either. Remember that soda water is very bad for 
growing bones and teeth as well as for your stomach. Besides, 
by taking it, you get into the habit of drinking, and if you must 



A bout Drinking 22 1 

have soda when you are young, you will probably think you 
must have much stronger drinks when you are older. Those 
who "cannot resist" a glass of soda now, will not be able to 
"resist" taking a glass of some stronger drink later on. 

If you teach yourself now to do without anything but milk 
and water, you will never regret it. About two thousand five 
hundred years ago a very wise man (Socrates) said: "Beware 
of those liquors which tempt you to drink when you are not 
thirsty, and of those foods which tempt you to eat when you are 
not hungry." 

We have lived many hundreds of years since then, yet these 
words have never been found anything but true, and no one 
can give you wiser directions than those about what you should 
eat and drink. 

The same wise man also said: "He who knows what is good 
and chooses it, who knows what is bad and avoids it, is learned 
and temperate." Now you can learn if you choose, what is 
good or bad for you, and any one who chooses the bad, after 
he knows that it is bad, fully deserves the punishment which is 
sure to overtake him sooner or later. 

I would advise every girl who reads this book not only to be 
very careful about her own food and drink at all times, but 
when she grows up never to marry any man who is too self-in- 
dulgent in this matter. If she does, she may find herself with a 
drunken husband, sickly children, ruined health and leading a 
most unhappy life. 



222 Yourself 

When it is thoroughly understood that no good woman will 
ever marry a man who drinks even a little, the men who expect 
to marry some day, and have homes and children of their own, 
will realize that they must keep away from temptation. So 
you see, girls, even if you cannot vote or change the laws, you 
can help to bring about a better state of things. Are you will- 
ing to do it? 

QUESTIONS. — How was alcohol found, and what was it mistakenly called? 
What is the yeast plant; where is it found, and how does it act? Which are the 
best things for boys and girls to drink, and why ? Do the Dwarfs like it when their 
master sends them any alcohol? Why does a man who drinks often want to go on 
drinking? For what reasons should you avoid the drink habit? Are people 
stronger with or without liquor ? What stories show that liquor does not keep people 
warm? Do doctors feel sorry for people who suffer from the drink disease? How 
can you help a person who is trying to break the drink habit? Tell me some good 
ways to use alcohol? Are many drugs quite as bad as drink? Why should you 
refuse to drink tea and coffee until you are grown up, and why should you not have 
much soda water? Is it right for girls who know what you have read in this 
chapter to marry men who drink? 



CHAPTER XIV 

About Smoking and Chewing 

UNTIL Christopher Columbus discovered America, and 
Sir Walter Raleigh brought the first tobacco to Eu- 
rope, white men managed to live and be very 
happy without smoking at all. In fact, it was only 
about five hundred years ago that civilized men began to adopt 
what was probably one of the very worst of the savage cus- 
toms, a custom which is doubly bad because it looks so very 
innocent. 

At first, no one knew that tobacco — like drink — is only a 
cheat and a poison. Of course, tobacco always made men sick 
the first time they tried it, but as they believed it was quite 
harmless otherwise, they went on trying, until they learned to 
like it so well that they fancied they really could not get along 
without it. 

The taste for tobacco, little by little, became so general that 
there are now more men who use it than men who do not, and 
so much money is spent every year for "the weed" as it is 
rightly called, that if that amount were set aside for a few years 
only, it is estimated we could pay off our immense national debt 
(in 1912, $2,831,330,305). 
223 



224 



Yourself 



You see what huge sums of money go up in smoke every year, 
for even men whose families have to be supported by charity 
always have money to burn in this way. 

Even doctors who 
smoke themselves, 
will tell you that to- 
bacco is a poison, that 
it is bad for the teeth, 
bad for the throat, 
bad for the lungs, bad 
for the stomach, bad 
for the heart, bad for 
the skin, and bad for 
the brain. Besides, 
they will tell you 
that, unlike alcohol, 
tobacco has no good 
side at all, save that 
it is useful in gardens 
and greenhouses to 
kill bugs and other 
vermin. 

Of course, men 
who only smoke a lit- 
tle, and who use tobacco which is clean and not too strong, do 
not suffer enough from its bad effects to notice them greatly. 




Tobacco Is Useful in Gardens — to Kill 
Bugs 



About Smoking and Chewing 225 

But even when they do, they like tobacco so much, that they 
are not willing to admit that it can have any share in making 
them ill, or to give up using it. 

Many doctors got into the habit of smoking before they 
knew of all the harm that tobacco can do. Others began using 
it when they were medical students, simply because they had 
to work many hours a day over things which smelled so very 
bad that it was a great relief to have a strong odor always 
under their noses to deaden the rest. 

These doctors will tell you that by the time they were 
through their disagreeable work, the habit of smoking had be- 
come so deeply rooted, that they no longer wished to give it 
up. Still, they cannot but add, that they and every one else 
would be much better off, if they never smoked at all. They 
also say that it is estimated that a young man who learns to 
smoke or chew, wilfully destroys one fifth of the enjoyment 
and value of his life and one tenth of its length. 

Although men can become insane as the result of too much 
smoking or chewing, tobacco does not have such plainly seen 
bad effects as alcohol, so it is never considered half as bad to 
smoke as to drink. In fact, any number of very good men use 
tobacco every day. But they certainly would never have gotten 
into the habit of doing so, if they had learned in time what 
harm it could work them and others, for really good men are 
never wilfully selfish. 

After a man — even a very good one — has once learned to 

15 



226 Yourself 

smoke or chew, it becomes an almost hopeless task to convince 
him that he is doing wrong, or make him give it up. You see, 
there are too many brain cells stowed away in his self-indul- 
gent storehouse, all full of excuses for doing as he wishes. 

This book is not written with any hope of changing grown- 
ups, whose habits are already fixed. It is merely intended to 
save you boys and girls from forming bad habits, and to show 
you plainly how foolish it is to ruin one's own life for the sake 
of pleasing a taste which you have not yet learned, and which 
you would have to cultivate. 

If you see grown up persons who want to give up drinking 
or smoking, help and encourage them as much as you can, but 
do not bother them or preach to them. Your business is to look 
after yourselves and your own companions. You are warned 
against the bad habits which you might adopt, and if, after 
that, you go ahead and form them, you will be much more 
blameworthy than the older people, whom perhaps you now 
secretly despise for being so self-indulgent and so foolish, to 
say the least. 

The Harm Tobacco Can Do 

We have said that no one can deny that much tobacco must 
harm the person who uses it and that most moderate smokers, 
when asked to give their honest opinion, will confess that it is 
much wiser not to smoke or chew at all. 



The Harm Tobacco Can Do 227 

Men declare that they smoke because it soothes them, be- 
cause it rests them, because it helps their digestion, because it 
makes them think better or quicker, because they are lonely and 
because it keeps them company, because they have nothing else 
to do, and because others smoke, and it is more sociable to do as 
others do. 

All these reasons, to a person who has stored no "tobacco 
cells" away in his brain, seem very childish and foolish and 
really good for nothing. Some doctors who liked to smoke, 
and wished therefore to prove that there is some truth in these 
reasons, have been obliged to own up frankly that they cannot 
do so. They even say that a great deal of their practice is due 
to the harm which tobacco does to the body. 

As our bodies were given us in trust, we have no right to 
harm them in any way. We have no right either to injure our 
minds or our characters, and still it is pretty generally agreed that 
the use of tobacco does both. A good man who smokes and 
chews, would be a far better man if he did neither, and you 
have surely never yet heard of any one so good that he or she 
could afford not to try to be a little better. 

Besides a man who smokes or chews cannot give his chil- 
dren as strong nerves as if he did neither, and every man ought 
to think of his children's welfare. 

General Grant and Emperor Frederick of Germany, who 
were both great and good men, nevertheless smoked so much 
that it gave them cancer of the throat from which they died. It 



228 Yourself 

is also said that President McKinley might perhaps have recov- 
ered from his wound if he had not had a "smoker's heart," for 
smoking wears the heart out by making it beat faster than it 
should. 

Now, Grant, McKinley and Frederick were unusually 
strong men, and if tobacco can do so much harm to strong men, 
you can imagine what havoc it plays with those who are not 
strong. A doctor counted the heart-beats of a smoker, and 
found that after eleven minutes' smoking, it beat thirty-eight 
beats a minute more! Doctors also tell us that tobacco makes 
many men crazy or that it brings about attacks of paralysis. 

It is said that the most moderate smoker spends forty dollars 
a year for tobacco. Now, if these forty dollars were laid aside 
every year, from the time he was twenty until he was sixty, this 
man could buy a nice little home to live in during his old age. 

A man who kept exact accounts, died in Vienna recently. 
He had smoked 628,713 cigars in forty-six years. You can 
count for yourselves how much money this man burned, even if 
he smoked the very cheapest kind of cigars — those made in a 
dirty way from cigar ends picked up in the gutter! 

How Tobacco Acts on Boys 

It has been proved that bad as tobacco is for men, it is much 
worse for boys who have not yet reached their full growth. 
It dwarfs and stunts them body and mind, and injures their 
characters as well. 



How Tobacco Acts on Boys 



229 



A doctor once examined thirty-eight boys under fifteen who 
were known to smoke. He found that although these boys had 
been quite healthy before they began to use tobacco, twenty- 
seven of them had already gotten diseases which no doctor 
could ever entirely cure. Some of them had the seeds of dis- 
eases which would make them unhappy and useless all their 
lives. 

The remaining eleven boys were stupid and lazy, and com- 
plained of headache and sore eyes, although they were not yet 
really sick. Still, some of them felt even worse than the boys 
who had diseases which would soon send them to their graves. 
Now, just think whether it paid to 
smoke! Here were thirty-eight boys 
who could have been good men and 
useful citizens, but they threw away 
all their chances for the sake of pleas- 
ing their vanity and their taste for to- 
bacco. 

It is so well proved that tobacco is 
bad for the health, that no athlete is 
ever allowed to use it, in any form, 
while in training. Besides, in Swit- 
zerland there are laws forbidding the Smoking Is Not Allowed 
sale of tobacco to boys under fifteen, at West Point 

and if one is caught using the weed he is arrested and punished. 

In Germany — the land of smokers— -the law forbids the use 




230 Yourself 

of tobacco to all youths under sixteen. Smoking is not allowed 
at West Point, at Annapolis or in the State Military School in 
Paris, for the American and French governments have found 
out that a student who smokes is not nearly as bright as when he 
does not smoke, and that he is not likely to do so well in his 
profession. 

While only some of the good men smoke, all the bad ones do, 
so Horace Greeley used to say: "Show me a genuine black- 
guard who is not fond of tobacco in some way, and I will show 
you two white blackbirds!" 

Every year, ten pounds of chewing tobacco, three and a half 
pounds of smoking, and a half pound of snuff are made in the 
United States for every male person, and six hundred million 
cigarettes are sold to supply the wants of six million youths! 
All this tobacco has to be grown, manufactured and sold, so 
many people are employed. But if the people thus employed 
had known the harm that tobacco can do, I feel very sure that 
few of them would care to have anything to do with it. They 
would surely rather grow, manufacture and sell something else. 
Because liquor and tobacco can do harm, the people who 
make and sell these things, are often looked down upon by 
others. We now know that those who are doing it may be 
excusable, but if their children do not see other and better ways 
of making money, when old enough to choose for themselves, 
they will deserve all the contempt which they are likely to meet 
some years hence, when everybody will have become fully 



Girls and Tobacco 23 1 

aware of the ruin which tobacco as well as drink can bring 
about. 

Girls and Tobacco 

If all the girls in our country banded together and refused to 
have anything to do with the boys who smoked, they would 
soon bring about a great change. They would, in the same 
time, benefit themselves greatly, for later on, when they grow 
up and want to marry, they will be very glad indeed to have 
husbands who do not selfishly burn money which might do good 
to their family or to the poor. Besides, their own health will 
be far better if they don't have to breathe air spoiled by tobacco 
smoke. Their children will be stronger and less likely to die in 
babyhood, and all their home life will be purer and happier. 

Girls, is not that worth trying for, even now? You will be 
teased and laughed at, but you are surely brave enough to stand 
a little of that. Just give the boys to understand, once for all, 
that while you are not such little prigs as to find fault with any- 
thing your fathers or uncles may choose to do, you are going to 
have your say about what your companions do, and that you 
certainly never mean to marry a man too weak-minded and self- 
indulgent to do what is proved to be right and to avoid forming 
bad habits. 

A girl, even in fun, or out of daring, should never touch a 
cigar or cigarette. You may be told that fine ladies do it, but 
nice ladies do not. Noble women shrink from the mere thought 
of such a thing. A woman who knows what harm smoking 



232 Yourself 

can do to the health, and who nevertheless smokes, is a woman 
of no character or principle. 

As much as you can keep out of smoky air, for every whiff 
of it is bad for your health. Girls brought up in homes where 
the air is blue with smoke, can never be quite as healthful and 
strong as they would have been had the air they breathed night 
and day always been quite pure. They are also more likely to 
have sickly children who will feel the bad effects from it, as I 
will explain to you later on. 

That every inch of a tobacco user's body is tainted by the 
poison, is proved by the fact that cannibals, — who like to eat 
what they call "long pig" — refuse to touch the flesh of any 
person who has smoked a great deal. If we lived among canni- 
bals, it might pay to smoke so as not to be eaten, but as it is, 
there is really no excuse whatever for a new generation growing 
up to make the same awful mistake as their fathers and grand- 
fathers. 

About Chewing 

A man or boy who chews tobacco, suffers often even more 
from its evil effects than a smoker. Do you want to know why? 
It is because a smoker draws in only a little of the poison from 
his pipe, cigar or cigarette, and blows out the rest to poison 
others, while a chewer swallows a great deal of it without mean- 
ing to do so. 

If he swallowed all the spittle flavored with tobacco, which 



About Chewing 233 

he has in his mouth all the time, it would soon make him very ill 
and even kill him. To avoid being sick at his stomach, a to- 
bacco chewer spits all the time. This is a filthy, disgusting 
habit, and as I have already explained to you the danger to 
others of spitting in anything but your handkerchief, or spittoon, 
you can understand why almost everybody now objects to that 
mode of using tobacco. Still, while little disease germs may 
rise from the dried spittle and do much mischief, a man who 
chews tobacco does not spoil all the air around him as a smoker 
does, and is hence less offensive to many people. 

Some school children are very fond of chewing-gum. They 
like it because it is nicely flavored with peppermint or vanilla, 
and because as long as they keep it in their mouths, that good 
taste tickles their palate. If the chewing-gum is well made, 
there is no poison whatever in it, so you might therefore think 
that it can do no harm at all to those who chew it. 

But you are greatly mistaken. Chewing-gum is really very 
bad for everybody. You remember, do you not, what I told 
you about the spittle buckets in your little house? Well, as long 
as your jaws move, and as long as there is something in your 
mouth, those spittle buckets work hard to moisten it. 

All this spittle is swallowed again and again and the little 
buckets get no rest at all. They work and work. All the spittle 
they make is wasted, because it was meant to digest food, and 
chewing-gum is not food but a cheat. 

The spittle buckets get so tired and use up so much good ma- 



234 Yourself 

terial wetting that stupid stuff, that when meal time comes, and 
you eat good food, they cannot supply really good spittle 
enough to digest it. Then the food goes down into the stomach 
only partly moistened and sweetened, and the poor Stomach 
Dwarf gets very cross because he has too much extra work to do. 

He says for instance: "Here I have been trotting to the stair- 
way, every few minutes all day, because telegrams came that 
something had been swallowed and that I must see to it! Each 
time I looked, I found a swallow of spittle, flavored with winter- 
green or some other stuff like that ! The very idea of wasting 
spittle and of disturbing me for nothing. I think master must 
have taken leave of his senses! If he doesn't look out I'll get 
mad, for while I am ready to work, I hate to be fooled!" 

Children who must chew something all the time — a piece of 
paper, or a bit of rubber when they cannot get anything else — 
are doing great harm to their spittle buckets as you see. When 
they grow up, chewing will be such a habit, that they will feel 
unhappy and lost without something in their mouths, and then 
they may take to chewing tobacco! 

Many mothers — who do not know what harm they are doing 
— give their babies rubber nipples to suck whenever they whim- 
per or cry. The babies, — whose instinct is to suck whatever is 
put into their mouths — then stop crying, for they cannot suck 
and cry at the same time. This is all mothers want. But they 
do not know that all the time a baby sucks that rubber, his poor 
little spittle buckets have to work very hard. 



About Chewing 235 

When real food is given him after awhile, the tired spittle 
buckets cannot make good spittle, the food does not digest well, 
the baby frets more and more, and every one wonders why that 
child has such a weak stomach! 

Never let your baby begin to suck a rubber nipple or his 
thumb. Stop it every time he tries it, and he'll soon get into good 
habits. It may give you a little more trouble at first, but it is sure 
to give you less in the end, and it is far, far better for the dar- 
ling's health. 

QUESTIONS. — Who discovered America, and who brought tobacco from 
America to Europe? Did people know at first that there was any harm in the 
innocent-looking tobacco plant? Do most men use tobacco, and why? Should 
you preach to older people who smoke? Whom should you watch over and teach 
good habits? Is tobacco particularly bad for growing boys, and why? Are ath- 
letes who are training for a match or race allowed to use tobacco? Do you want 
to store tobacco-cells in your brain? Could the money spent for tobacco be put to 
a better use? Should girls refuse to associate with boys who smoke? Is it wise or 
nice for girls to smoke? Why is chewing-gum bad for your health, and how does 
the Stomach Dwarf like it? Why should not a baby suck its thumb or a rubber 
nipple? How can you give the baby good habits? 




236 



Don't Let Baby Suck His Thumb 



CHAPTER XV 
Plant, Fish, Bird and Animal Babies 

DID you ever go to your father or mother for help in your 
arithmetic, for instance, and find out that while they 
could do your sums and get the right answers, they 
often did them in a very different way from your 
teacher, and could not explain to you as clearly the reasons 
why they did them so? 

Father and mother — especially if they are older — may know 
even more than your teacher does, but as it is not their business 
to teach arithmetic, they do not know the best and shortest way 
to go to work about it. Each person, you know, has his or her 
own trade or work, and while your mother may be the best 
mother, or housekeeper, or dressmaker, or artist there ever was, 
she may not be a good teacher. 

Your father may be the best plumber, doctor, waiter, musi- 
cian, or bookkeeper in the whole country, and still not be able 
to teach arithmetic. 

Of course a few parents have a gift for teaching and explain- 
ing, and thus can do it better than any one else; but many others 
know so well that they cannot teach, that they are very glad to 
have you go to school and learn from others all you need know. 
237 



238 Yourself 

It is because most parents don't know how to explain hard 
things in an easy way, that they so often say: "Oh, don't bother 
me!" "Ask some one else," or "You couldn't understand even 
if I were to tell you," or "You must wait until you grow up be- 
fore you can understand that!" 

Some parents also think that as they cannot explain many 
true things in such a way that their children will understand, 
they must satisfy them by telling them fairy-tales or nonsense. 
As you know, there is some very pleasant nonsense which makes 
you laugh, and there is provoking nonsense which makes you 
angry. The loveliest of all fairy-tales, and the very nicest non- 
sense there ever was, is the story of Santa Claus. 

Now that you are no longer babies, you probably know or 
guess that Santa Claus never lived at all, and that the reindeers, 
the visit down each chimney, the sleighful of toys, and all the 
rest, is just make-believe of the very nicest kind. Your parents 
enjoyed it all so much when they were little, that they wanted 
you to have the same fun too, while you could, and therefore 
they let you believe what was not true. 

Christmas is never half so merry when one no longer believes 
in Santa Claus, so they let you read and talk about him all you 
pleased, and never told you that it was all a fairy-tale until they 
had to. 

Besides, Christmas — the birthday of Christ — means so much 
that is beautiful and holy to most Christian parents, that they 
always think it better to wait until children are old enough to 



Plant, Fish, Bird and Animal Babies 



239 




Christmas Is Beautiful and 
Holy 



understand, before they tell them all the story of the Child born 
in a manger, whose birth proved such a blessing to all the world, 
although His life was so sad. 

The longer you live and the 
older you get, the clearer you 
will see that it is always hardest 
to talk of the things we care 
about most. For instance, you 
can easily tell me how much 
you love your cat, your bi- 
cycle, your doll or your ball, 
but when you want to tell your 
mother how dearly you love her, 
you can only hug and kiss her and say, over and over again: "I 
love you, ever and ever so much!" 

Many good fathers and mothers feel so deeply about 
religion, that they seldom talk about it, but expect their chil- 
dren to learn all about it in church, in Sunday-school, and from 
their books. In the same way, many fathers and mothers — 
who know all about being parents and where all the babies 
come from — often cannot answer your simplest question about 
that, because they feel it too deeply. 

Some of them feel so very deeply that they say: "Oh, don't 
tell the children anything about it! They cannot understand 
yet. Just let them believe any fairy-tale they please, but don't 
tell them the truth. Let them find out all about it only by and 
by, when they are much older." 



240 



Yourself 



But I am sure you are already quite old enough to under- 
stand, provided it is made clear to you. I am therefore going 
to tell you truly how all the babies — the plant babies, the fish 
babies, the bird babies, the animal babies, and the human 
babies — come into the world. This is what is often called 

"Nature's Secret." 

Now you surely all 
know that secrets are 
very sacred, and very 
precious. We tell se- 
crets only to persons 
whom we know we can 
trust, and it is because I 
feel sure I can trust you, 
that I am telling you 
now. Remember that 
you must k ee P an y se- 
cret which is trusted to 
you. That is to say you 
must not talk about it to 

any one, unless the per- 
son who told it to you says you may. 

You may talk to mother about "Nature's Secret," as much as 

you please, and you may talk about it to your teacher if you read 

this book in school, but all the rest of the time I expect you not to 

say one word about it to any one else, and to keep it to yourself. 

Children who are true, and who have a nice sense of honor, can 




A Secret Between Mother and You 



About Plant Babies 241 

always be trusted, and I feel sure, though I cannot look straight 
into your eyes that you can be trusted. So show yourselves wor- 
thy of this trust by not talking at all about sacred matters like 
this to any one except your mother. 

All the grown up people know all about Nature's secret, so 
you see it is really no secret at all, but it is called a secret be- 
cause it is a very sacred and private matter, which nice-minded 
people never mention lightly. 

About Plant Babies 

You have already heard that plants are alive, that they eat 
and drink, as it were, that they breathe and that they grow. 
When God made the first tree, the first plant, and the first 
blade of grass or bit of moss, He made it as a pattern. He did 
not wish to go on forever and ever making all the trees, plants, 
grass and moss, needed to cover the bare earth with beauty, and 
to give food to animals and man, so He gave each living thing 
the power to make others just like itself. 

Every plant, tree, blade of grass, and every bit of moss, was 
to grow, bloom, and bear fruit or seed, and from this seed, new 
plants, new trees, new blades of grass, and new bits of moss 
were to grow, just like the pattern first made by God. 

You may not know that God also decided that all living 
things should be one of two kinds, or sexes, that is to say, 
either male or female. There are therefore male and female 
plants, male and female fishes, male and female birds and 

16 



242 Yourself 

other animals, and men and women, or male and female hu- 
man beings. 

God wanted creatures of the same kind to love each other, 
and be kind to one another, so He also divided all living things 
into families. There are plant families, as well as animal and 
human families, and when you come to study in higher classes, 
you will learn much more than I can tell you here about the 
plant, animal and human families. 

There are plant families, as we have said. These families 
have different ways of living and of bringing up their children. 
Sometimes the father and mother live on the same plant, and 
even in the same flower-house. Sometimes the father lives in 

one flower-house and the 
mother in another. 

When father and 
mother live in the same 
flower-house, they can 

settle their family affairs 
Plant Babies J] a l one> but when they 

live on different plants, or in different flower-houses, they have 
to send messages to one another by the bees, the butterflies and 
the wind. 

To make you understand just what takes place, I am going 
to make believe that the flowers talk. They may talk really, 
but as it is not any language we can hear or understand, we 
often say that they cannot speak. 




About Plant Babies 243 

Whenever the flowers open wide, you can see, down in the 
centre of each father flower, some pretty yellow dust. When 
this yellow dust is ready to drop or fly away, the father flower 
says: "Here is some nice yellow dust. God has hidden away 
in each little speck of this yellow dust the power to grow into 
a plant just like me. But this dust is so small and so delicate, that 
it can easily get lost. I wish I knew of some nice safe place 
where I could hide it, where it would be warm, could get food, 
and grow nicely." 

Then the mother flower calls out: "Hidden away here, 
down by my heart, there is a dear little nest, which God bade 
me make as a cradle for flower babies. Just send me your yel- 
low dust. I'll tuck it away here safely, and take good care of 
it. We'll see if it can really grow up into a flower baby, 
although it is so very small now." 

Then the father plant either shakes his yellow dust down 
upon the mother plant, or the wind, or the bees, or the butter- 
flies carry it over to her. 

The tiny specks of yellow dust slip down a little passage, 
or tube, which leads right to the little flower nest, where they 
are safely tucked away by the mother plant. There, the mother 
brings them food and air, and there they grow and grow bigger 
and bigger. 

If the flower cradle did not grow bigger and bigger too, the 
flower babies would soon be much too large for their nests. 
The flower mother is so busy seeing that her babies have food 



244 Yourself 

and air enough (it is all carried to them by the sap-boats, just 
as food is carried to our muscles by the blood-boats) , that she 
quite forgets to look after herself at all. 

Her pretty dress fades and grows ragged, her bright color 
fades away, and one fine day, the weary flower-mother says: 
"My work is all done! My flower babies are fine and strong. 
I am so tired, I think now that they don't need me any more at 
all, I'll just go to sleep!" 

Then the tired flower-mother goes to sleep, never to wake 
up again, for her work in the world is all done; and whenever 
there is nothing more God wishes a flower, an animal or a hu- 
man being to do, He takes back the life which He gave them. 

The flower babies don't get any more food now, but they 
feel big and restless. Their nest seems much too small. They 
stretch and stretch, until one fine day the thin walls of their 
little room or nest crack, and all the flower babies, or seeds 
tumble out and fall on the ground. 

Some of these flower babies — for there are often ever so 
many of them tucked away in the same little room — are eaten 
up by the birds, some dried up by the sun, some soaked and 
spoiled by the rain, but a few get trodden into the ground, 
where they lie safely, until they begin to sprout and grow 
there in their own way. 

Get a pea, or a bean, or a morning-glory seed, — any seed is 
a plant baby, you know, — plant it and see it grow. The seed 
swells, the shell or skin cracks, a tiny root pushes downward, 



The Fish Babies 



245 



little leaves push upward, and before long you have a plant, 
just like the father and mother of that baby seed. 

Even big oak-trees grow up out of tiny acorns, and oaks, as 
well as bits of grass, once had a father and a mother. In time, 
when baby plants grow big enough, they will be either father 
or mother to other trees 
or plants just like them- 
selves. Now you know 
exactly where all the 
plant babies come from, 
for I have told you the 
whole truth in this easy 
way. 

The Fish Babies 

Fish Babies 

Fishes live in the 
water. As water is cold and chills warm-blooded creatures, all 
fishes have cold blood, or at least blood not nearly so warm as 
ours. It is always said that cold-blooded creatures are far less 
loving than those with warm blood, so you will not be surprised 
to hear that most fishes do not care very much for their little 
babies. 

There are male and female, or father and mother fishes, 
just as there are male and female plants. It was God who 
made the first fishes, and gave them the power to make other 
fishes like themselves. 




246 Yourself 

You often have fish for dinner, do you not? Well, once in 
a while, mother gets what is known as a roe-fish. You know, 
do you not, that before chickens or fishes are cooked, they are 
always opened. The insides are carefully taken out and 
thrown away, before the chicken or fish is cooked. 

When mother buys a roe-fish, you find in its belly, besides 
the parts you throw away, many, many tiny little round things, 
which look like beads, and which are all wrapped up in a fine 
but very strong skin, which keeps them apart from the bowels 
and all the rest of the fish. 

These bead-like things are fish eggs, and they are never found 
except at certain times, in the body of a female fish. 

God made in the body of the first female fish, a little skin 
room, in which many, many eggs could grow. In spring, when 
the water gets nice and warm, these tiny eggs — they are made 
and fed by the fish blood-boats which bring them air and food, 
— swell and swell, and when they reach the right size, the fe- 
male fish begins to look around for a nice place where she can 
hide them. 

Most fishes like to lay their eggs in some river or brook, where 
they think baby-fishes can thrive best, so the mother fishes swim 
away to find the mouths of rivers or brooks. 

As there are male as well as female fishes, the females soon 
meet male fishes, swimming around in the lakes or seas. Now, 
as I want you to know just what happens, we'll make believe 
that fishes talk. 



The Fish Babies 247 

The male fish says: "When God made the first male fish, He 
gave him the power to give life to other fishes just like himself. 
In my body there is a liquid. If I could only pour it over some 
fish eggs, I am sure there would soon be nice little fishes just 
like me. I wonder where I can find some fish eggs?" 

Then the female fish says: "I know. If you come with me, 
I will show you. I have some nice fish eggs. You can be 
father, and I'll be mother to a big family of fish babies!" Then 
the two fishes swim off together. 

By and by they come to a place where the water is nice and 
still, where the sand is fine, where the sun shines warmly, and 
the mother-fish says: "Here is a nice place. I am going to lay 
the eggs, which are hidden away in a little nest in my body, 
right here!" 

Then the door to the little egg room opens, and the eggs 
drop out on the fine sand. When the mother fish has laid all 
her eggs, the father fish comes swimming along, and when he 
sees those nice eggs he pours out over them the liquid which is 
in his body. Then all the eggs which are touched by the liquid 
can grow and grow, until they become baby-fishes. But those 
which the father liquid does not touch never grow at all, they 
spoil and are lost. 

Some father and mother fishes stay around near their eggs, 
to watch them until the tiny baby fishes break out of the fish 
eggs, begin to swim around, and can look after themselves. But 
other father and mother fishes swim away just as soon as their 



248 Yourself 

egg-nest is made. You see, they are cold-blooded, and so do 
not have much affection for their young. 

As there are hundreds and thousands of fish eggs in the body 
of one female fish, you can easily imagine how many baby 
fishes there are. But, as many big fishes feed on small ones, 
ever and ever so many of these baby fishes are eaten up, long 
before they can grow up to be father and mother fishes in their 
turn. Were it not so, there would soon be so many fishes in the 
sea, that they would be packed there as tightly as they are now 
in the boxes of salt fish, which we buy at the grocer's ! 

Some of you children who live in the country, may have 
seen in spring, in a frog-pond, what looked like a big lump of 
whitish gelatine with many little black specks all through it. 
These black specks are the eggs laid by mother frog, and in time 
they will hatch into polliwogs or baby frogs. Although father 
frog — like all fishes — is said to be cold-blooded, the life fluid 
he poured over the eggs was so much warmer than the water, 
that it jellied, just as any hot syrup does if you drop it in cold 
water. That is why the black specks are all covered with 
transparent white jelly. 

Now, you know exactly how the baby-fishes and baby 
frogs come into the world, do you not? 

The Bird Babies 

Birds can move even quicker than fishes. They live mostly 
in the air, flying about. As it takes a great deal more strength 



The Bird Babies 249 

to fly in the air than to swim in the water, the blood of the birds 
flows around much quicker than the blood of the fishes. Be- 
cause it flows so much quicker, it is warmer, in fact, birds are 
the warmest blooded of all creatures. 

Now I told you that the warmer the blood the better the 
mind, and the more affection the parents showed to their young. 
So you will not be surprised to hear that father and mother birds 
look after their young much better than father and mother fish. 

There are male and female birds of every kind. God, in the 
beginning, gave all the birds He made, power to make or create 
other birds like themselves, that is to say, to pass on the life 
which He had given them to their young, so that even when 
they were all dead and gone, there would still be other birds to 
fly around, and delight us by their beauty and song, and to 
teach us lessons of patience and love. 

Early in the spring, when the baby birds of last summer are 
full grown male and female birds, they begin to feel that they 
ought to do something more than eat arid drink, fly about and 
sing, and that they should use the power which God gave them 
and pass on some of their joyous life to other birds. So the 
young male birds begin to sing. As I want you to know what it 
is they sing, I'll put the song you have so often heard, into words 
which you can understand, just as well as any of the female 
birds who hear it. 

The male bird sings: "Here! Here! look at me! As fine a 
bird as ever you'd see! I can fly, I can sing, I am young, I am 



250 



Yourself 



strong. Last summer my brothers, my sisters and I were all 
bird babies up in a dear little nest in a shady tree. I remember 
that nest well. I remember how father and mother flew around 
all day long, getting such nice fat worms and flies and slugs for 
us to eat! 

"I'd like to build a nest just like that one, up in the fork of 
some nice tree. But I'd like to have some one to help me, just 
as my mother helped my father. Isn't there any nice little fe- 
male bird who'd be 
willing to help me? We 
could build that nest to- 
gether. We could line it 
with nice soft moss and 
feathers. Then she could 
lay some pretty eggs in it. 
While she hatched those 
eggs, I would sit up on a 
branch and sing to her. 
I'd go and get nice 
worms to feed to her. 
Whenever she wanted to 
stretch her legs or wings 
I'd sit on those dear little 
eggs so as to keep them nice and warm until she came back. 
Then, when the baby birds came out of the shells, I'd help 
her feed them, I'd hunt worms and slugs all day long. 




Bird Babies 



More About Bird Babies 251 

"When evening came, and she tucked our babies safe under 
her wing, I'd sing a little song to put them to sleep, before I put 
my own weary head under my wing to go to sleep too. I'd wake 
up first in the morning, when the very first pink or yellow glow 
appeared in the east, and as soon as I heard my little wife's first 
chirp, I'd pour out a glad morning song before we started out to- 
gether to take our morning bath and get the wee babies' break- 
fast. 

"When our babies got big enough to fly, she and I would 
teach them how to look after themselves, and when they grew 
so big and strong that they did not need us any longer, my little 
wife and I would fly away together to the sunny South, where 
we would spend the long, cold winter." 

More About Bird Babies 

You heard in our last chapter what the male bird sings. By 
and by, a female bird, who has no mate as yet, but who is look- 
ing around for some one to help her build a nest, listens to his 
song. She says: "Are you quite sure, you big, strong bird, 
that you won't get tired waiting on me during the long weeks 
I'll have to sit on my eggs, so as to keep them warm and hatch 
out baby birds? If you are selfish, if you want to fly off to 
have a good time, I'll starve, or else I'll have to leave my eggs 
uncovered. Eggs can soon grow cold, you know, and a mere 
chill would be quite enough to kill my babies. Then, too, 
even after they come safely out of the shell, you and I will 



252 Yourself 

have to work very hard, or our babies will starve. Are you 
quite sure you can be a good and patient husband and father? 
Are you quite sure you can forget your own comfort to think 
only of me and of our babies for a while?" 

If the male bird can satisfy the female bird, so that she feels 
she can trust him, they mate, that is to say, they become bird 
husband and wife, and go off together to build their nest. The 
female bird soon finds out that the male bird is always ready 
to give her the nicest worms he finds, to carry the heaviest sticks 
and the longest straws, and that he is cheerful and good tem- 
pered, and ready to sing to her when she wakes up and when 
she goes to sleep. 

Bird husband and wife learn to love each other dearly, 
and if you watch pigeons, for instance, you will see and hear 
them billing and cooing, which is bird way of kissing each 
other and calling each other pet names. 

Mated birds are husband and wife, so of course they are 
very intimate and tell each other all their secrets, and things 
no one else need know. As birds' eggs have hard shells, and 
the life fluid cannot soak through those, the father bird gives 
some of his to the mother bird, who stows it away in the eggs 
before the hard shell grows all around them. 

Three, four, five or more eggs are always laid in each nest, 
and the hard shell around them prevents their being crushed 
flat, when the mother bird begins to sit upon them so as to 
hatch them. In each little egg, there is a tiny speck or drop of 



More About Bird Babies 253 

life-fluid, so that it can change and grow into a baby bird, or 
young chick, if kept warm enough. In each egg there is also 
stowed away all the food each little bird will need until he is 
strong enough to break his shell. This food is what is called 
the white and yolk of the egg. And up at one end, you can 
also find a little supply of air for the baby bird to breathe. 

For about three weeks, the mother bird — who never kept 
still for a moment in her life before except when she was asleep, 
— sits on these eggs with outspread wings, to keep them snug 
and warm. She sits quite still, although it is keen torture for 
her, and while she sits there so patiently, the father bird gets 
her nice worms to eat, sings pretty songs to cheer her, and helps 
and encourages her all he can. 

When she has to leave the nest for a few minutes every day, 
to stretch her poor cramped legs, and flutter her stiff wings, the 
father bird sits upon the eggs to keep them warm. But he 
soon grows weary of this work, and is very glad indeed when 
the mother bird comes back again. You see, each one has 
special duties, and as the father bird's work is to rush around 
and get food, of course he would rather do that. 

One fine day, the mother bird calls to the father bird: "Oh, 
my dear, my dear! I do believe our bird babies are soon going 
to creep out of their shells. I hear a faint noise. It sounds 
like 'pick! pick!' just as if they were tapping their little bills 
against the shells to peck their way out!" 

Father and mother bird are very much excited, and sure 



254 Yourself 

enough, before long baby birds come creeping out of their 
shells, to receive a loving welcome. The empty, broken shells 
are quickly flung out of the nest, and as the new bird babies 
shiver with cold, the mother bird covers them close with her 
soft feathers, until they feel quite warm, and dry, and happy. 

After awhile the baby birds begin to say: "Peep! peep!" 
which means: "I am hungry! I am so hungry! give me some- 
thing to eat!" 

The father and mother bird are kept very busy during the 
next few weeks feeding these hungry babies. At first, they, 
chew all the food for them, and give it to them only when it 
is nice and soft; but after a while, the bird babies are able to 
eat whole worms and grain, nice fat slugs, and bits of ripe cher- 
ries and berries. Then they grow big and soon tumble out of 
the nest and learn to fly. 

Your father and mother often say they have their hands 
pretty full looking after the wants of one baby at a time, but 
father and mother bird always have several babies at once to 
bring up, so you can imagine how very busy and tired they 
must be. 

It is because birds are such very good parents, because they 
are so loving, so tender, so patient and so active, that they are 
often held up to us as examples, and all those who love and 
understand birds, can learn a great deal of good from them. 

You have now heard how all the bird babies come into the 




Animal Babies 



255 



256 Yourself 

world, and I hope you have also learned a little how beautiful 
the life of a bird family can be. 

Animal Babies 

As you have seen, plant babies and fish babies look after 
themselves just as soon as they break out of the seed, or egg, 
in which they are safely tucked away. There are so very many 
of them, that it does not matter if some are lost, some starved, 
and some eaten up. There are still plenty left. 

Bird babies are not nearly so plentiful as fish or plant babies, 
so they are guarded far more carefully while they are young 
and small, and allowed to leave the home nest only when quite 
able to look out for themselves. 

Besides birds and fishes, there are, as you know, many, many 
other animals in the world. The finer they are, the more deli- 
cate their babies are apt to be, and the more carefully they 
have to be nursed when little. A creature as light as a bird, can 
easily sit upon eggs until they are hatched, but just imagine 
what would happen if an elephant had to sit on eggs ! 

God always knows what is best to do, so when He made the 
first animals, He settled that ever so many of them should hatch 
their eggs, inside and not outside of their own bodies. All the 
animals which do this, have breasts, in which milk comes to feed 
their young when they are born, so they are all called mammals, 
or breast animals. 

There are male and female animals of each kind among the 



Animal Babies 



257 



mammals, to whom God has given the power to make other 
animal bodies just like themselves. Just as every plant, and 
fish and bird, has to have a father and mother, all the mammals 
have to have fathers and mothers too. 

You all know that cows give milk, so cows are mammals, are 
they not? In the cow's body, as in the bird's and the fish's, 
there is a little room, which God provided as a home for the 
cow's baby. Here the cow blood-boats bring air, and food, 
and material to make a tiny egg. This egg is very, very small 
and soft, although the cow is so very big, but when the life fluid 
once gets into it, it begins to grow. In a little while it hatches 
into a baby calf. The 
calf stays in the little 
room, where the cow 
blood-boats bring it all 
the air and food it 
needs, and plenty of 
material so that it can 
grow. 

When it is big and 

strong, the door opens, 

and the calf drops out, 

or is born, as we often 

call it. The mother cow 
- , . . , . f A Shaky-Legged Calf 

then licks her calf to 

show it how dearly she loves it, and when the calf stands up on 

17 




258 Yourself 

its long, shaky legs, and says in calf-talk: "I am hungry!" the 
mother answers: 

"Well, my dear, God knew you would be hungry, so He 
sent some milk into my milk bag (the cow's breast) . Just help 
yourself, my dear, suck all you want." If you have ever seen 
baby calves feed, you will know that they are very greedy little 
things, so mamma cow does not need to say twice, "Help your- 
self!" 

The baby calf is very glad to suck milk from its mother's 
breast until its teeth are full grown. Then it begins to eat hay, 
and grass and grain, and by and by it stops nursing entirely, to 
eat just what its mother eats. 

As cows are very precious animals, they generally have but 
one calf at a time, although twin calves are sometimes seen. 
Most mares, or mamma horses, have only one baby colt at a 
time, because horses are very precious too, but cats often have 
four or five kittens at once, and dogs three or four puppies. 

Because cats, and dogs, and pigs, have several babies to 
nurse at a time, God has given them several breasts, which fill 
with milk whenever the babies need it. In that way, all the 
babies can nurse at once, and have all the milk they want or 
need. 

Baby cows and baby horses come into the world all covered 
with hair, and with wide open eyes; but puppies and kittens 
are not one bit pretty at first. Their eyes are tightly closed 
when born because they are not yet strong enough to bear the 



Animal Babies 259 

light. In about nine days they grow strong enough to open and 
then the puppies and kittens can see all right. 

There are some children, who, not knowing what I have 
told you, actually try to open the eyes of poor little puppies or 
kittens! This is horribly cruel. It hurts the delicate little crea- 
tures so dreadfully, that they often become blind from it. 

So, children, never, never handle little animal babies until 
you have learned all about them, for, without meaning to do so, 
you may do them more harm than you can imagine, and spoil 
all their happy lives. 

QUESTIONS. — Is it always easy for fathers and mothers to explain all the 
things you want to know? What is the fairy-tale told to little children about Christ- 
mas, and what is the truth? What is "Nature's Secret," and with whom may you 
talk about it? When God made the first tree, plant, bit of grass, etc., what purpose 
was it to serve ? Did God make all living things of two sexes, male and female, and 
why? Are there plant, animal, and human families? Do Father and Mother 
Flower always live in the same house? What do you see in the middle of every 
open flower? Tell the story of a flower family. Do all flowers and plants and trees 
grow from seeds? Where do fishes live, and is their blood colder or warmer than 
yours? What is fish-roe, and how does it turn into fishes? Tell the story of a 
bird family. Do all animals grow from seeds or eggs? Why should you be careful 
of little puppies and kittens? 



CHAPTER XVI 
How You Came Here 

AFTER learning exactly how all the plant, fish, bird 
and animal babies come into the world, I suppose you 
wonder how you got here yourself. Since I promised 
to tell you all you care to know about yourself, I am 
going to tell you that too. 

You know that you are very different from animals. They 
have bodies, and life, and instinct, but they have no mind or 
soul, such as you have. It is because you have a mind and a 
soul that you are said to be made after God's own image. 

When you were little, you often asked where you came from, 
and as you could not understand then, what I am going to tell 
you now, you were probably told fairy-tales, or things which 
were only true in a way. Mamma may have told you that God 
sends all the little babies. That is perfectly true, for all life 
does come from God. You may also have seen pictures like this, 
where a lovely angel brings a laughing baby down from Heaven 
in its arms. But if you had really come to papa and mamma in 
this way, they could not love you quite as much as they do now, 
for the reason you are soon going to hear. 

If your parents ever heard German fairy-tales, or if you had a 
260 



How You Came Here 



261 



German nurse, you may have been told that a stork came flying 
in one day, carrying you in his bill, and that he laid you down 
beside mamma, and bit her leg, so that she had to stay in bed 
until quite well again. That too, is only a fairy-tale, like the 
story of Santa Claus. But it is great fun to believe it when you 
are too little to understand the truth. 

You may also have been 
told that the doctor brought 
you, or that mamma found 
you in a cabbage, or something 
of the sort. There is a speck 
of truth about all these stories, 
as you will see when you 
know all. 

You heard, did you not, 
how the male and female bird 
found each other and how 
they agreed to make a dear lit- 
tle home for themselves and 
for their family? Well, when 
a man is quite grown up, when 
he is strong and well, and feels 
that he can earn enough to make a home, he begins to think about 
marrying, too. As he has a soul, he wants to find a wife with a 
soul like his, a wife whom he can love and trust. 

He looks around, and when he meets the right woman — the 




The Bride 



262 Yourself 

woman who has a soul like his, — he asks her to be his wife, and 
come and make a home for him. Then they two are married, 
either by a priest or by a minister, if they are Christians or believe 
in any special religion, or before a magistrate, if they prefer. 

In marrying, the man promises to love his wife, to work for 
her, to take care of her when she is sick and when she is well, 
and to be not only a good husband to her alone, but a good 
father to any children God may send into his home. You see, 
this is a very solemn promise. Because a good home is the 
loveliest thing in the world, every one feels interested in such a 
young couple, and all their friends wish them luck, health, and 
happiness, and bring them gifts. 

How You Grew 

You have all seen weddings, have you not? And you all 
know that when the wedding is over, it is right and proper for 
the young woman to leave her father and mother, and go away 
with the young man, so that they can begin a new life together, 
and make a new home. Never mind what kind of a home it is, 
whether it is in one small room only, or in the grandest palace 
you ever saw, if the man and woman really love each other, 
wherever they are together, they are at home, and they feel so 
strongly that they are one, that they often, in joking-earnest, talk 
of each other as their "better half." 

At first, your family was a very small one, only papa and 
mamma. While father was away at work all day, mother was 



How You Grew 263 

quite alone, and when she saw other homes where there were 
little children to keep the mothers company, she often wished 
she had some too. 

Mamma knew that the souls of people (the masters of their 
little houses), are sent by God, to live in human bodies. Al- 
though she did not know what souls are made of — nobody does 
know that except God, — she knew that the little houses in 
which they live and grow are made of food and air. 

Mamma knew that in her body, just as in the body of all 
female animals, there was a little room which God made as a 
home for tiny babies. In that room, mamma's little blood-boats 
made a tiny little egg, so small that it could not be seen except 
with a microscope. Just like the bird's egg, it grew and changed 
as soon as some of father's life fluid got into it. 

But this tiny egg was hatched inside of mother's body, and 
when you first came out of it, you were so small, so very small, 
that no one could have seen you. Babies as small as that could 
not of course be handled at all, so God decided that they should 
stay right in the little room where they were hatched, until big 
enough to be trusted out in this world. Just so, baby birds are 
kept in the nest until it is safe for them to leave it. 

You, therefore, stayed in mother's little room, week after 
week and month after month, for about three-quarters of a 
year. Mother knew you were there, for she could feel your 
little hand or foot tapping against the wall of the room as if to 
say, "how do you do" to her. Mother could not see you, and 



264 Yourself 

did not know what you looked like, but she could feel you 
were alive — just as you can feel your heart beat — and she 
knew that you were growing. As you were part of mother's 
body and alive, you needed both food and air. These were 
brought to you by mother's blood-boats. 

Mother wanted her baby to be as well and strong as possi- 
ble, so she was very careful to breathe nice pure air, and to eat 
nothing but good wholesome food. She also wanted you to 
grow as big as you could, so she did not wear any tight clothes 
at all, so as not to squeeze you up in that little room. Because 
she wanted you to be a jolly, happy baby, she thought only of 
nice, pleasant things, tried to be happy all the time, and sang 
and smiled while at work. 

As long as you lived in the little room in mother's body, you 
were warm and snug and safe, and while mother watched 
carefully over you, father watched as carefully over her. Like 
the father bird I told you about, he got all she needed, kept her 
company whenever he could, cheered and encouraged her, 
and, knowing no feathers grow on human babies, earned money 
enough to get clothes, so that you would have all you needed 
when you came into this world, or were born, as it is called. 

As you grew bigger and bigger, you needed more and more 
air and food, and mother's blood-boats were so busy feeding 
you, and helping you to grow big and strong, that they could 
not spare much food or air to keep mother herself well and 
strong. But mother loved you so dearly, that she wanted you 



How You Came into the World 265 

to have the very best she could give you, and she did not care 
at all what happened to her, as long as she knew that you were 
all right. 

How You Came into the World 

Next time you take a bath, just look at the queer little hole 
in the middle of your belly or abdomen. While you lived in 
mother's little room, a pipe went right down into this little hole, 
and through this pipe the blood-boats sent by mamma's pump- 
ing dwarfs, carried food and air into your tiny body, to build 
it up bit by bit with the materials they brought. 

All the good air mother breathed, helped to make your little 
house, and all the good food she ate was just so much building 
material for you. That is why children are so often told that 
they were found in cabbages, in carrots, or in potatoes. Really, 
you know, the cabbages, carrots, potatoes, etc., only served to 
make a part of the blood out of which your little body was 
made. 

There are some things — as I told you before — which no one 
has ever been able to find out. One of these is just when and 
how your soul got into your body. No one — not even the 
wisest doctor who ever lived — knows anything about this. 
But we believe that the soul was sent by God to live and grow 
in the little house which mother was so busy making for you. 

When you were big enough to make it safe for you to come 
out into the world, God opened the door of the little room 



266 Yourself 

where you had been so snug and safe, Then you first saw the 
light, and mamma, who had been far more patient even than 
the mother bird I have told you about, was very, very happy to 
see and hear you at last. 

As long as you lived in mamma's body, she breathed 
for you, but when you came out of the little room, the air 
rushed into your lungs, which now began their life work, and 
after that, you could, if necessary, have lived without mamma. 

Sometimes, when God opens the door of the little room, the 
pain is so great, that poor mammas die, and as it always makes 
mothers very ill, the doctor generally has to come and take care 
of them. It is also the doctor who ties up the pipe opening in a 
baby's abdomen, and that is why mamma and nurses so often 
tell children that the baby came when the doctor did, and chil- 
dren fancy that he brought it in his satchel ! 

The little room in mamma's body where you lived before 
you were born is made of soft skin, and is warm and moist 
just like the inside of your mouth. Put your finger in your 
mouth and just leave it there for awhile, closing your lips 
tightly over it. When you take it out again, you will find that 
it is much warmer and redder than the other fingers, and slightly 
wrinkled. Now, you know, you stayed in the little room — where 
it was so warm and so moist — for many, many months, so it is no 
wonder that when you came out first, you were very red and 
wrinkled. 

Many people when they first see a new-born baby are terri- 



Why You Should Love Your Mother 267 

bly disappointed because it is red and wrinkled, but now you 
know just why it is so. In a few days the wrinkles go away, 
baby is no longer as red as a little lobster, and then you can 
see how pretty it really is. 

Little babies are so delicate, that mammas and nurses have 
to take the very best care of them. No cold air must strike them 
at first, no bright light shine in their weak eyes, no loud noises 
startle them, and no rough touch hurt them. But, as mother is 
often too ill to look after the baby at first, she often has some 
one else to help her; still, as soon as she gets well enough, she 
generally takes care of her dear baby her own self. 

Why You Should Love Your Mother 

As little babies, — like all birds and other animals, — need 
plenty of food to grow, and as they cannot as yet eat the same 
kind of food we do, God sends milk into mother's breasts to 
feed them. But if mother is not very strong, she sometimes 
finds that she has not milk enough to satisfy her baby, and then 
she gives it a bottle. 

Because mothers give a part of their own life to their chil- 
dren, because they have to watch over them so long before 
they come, and because they often suffer such pain when they 
are born, mothers love them much more than if they came 
straight down from Heaven in an angel's arms. 

You know how it is yourself, you always like even a doll or 
a toy better when it is all your own, than when you buy it in a 



268 Yourself 

store or if it is given to you. So mamma loves her baby much 
better than any other because it is her very own. 

Good mothers feel that God is very kind when He lets them 
have a baby of their very own, and sends down a little soul to 
dwell in its tiny body. They know that the time will come 
when the body will die, but they feel that the soul will never 
die, and they want to make it beautiful and strong so they can 
tell God that they carefully trained the soul He trusted to their 
keeping. 

It is because mother has done so much for you — so much 
more than you can ever understand, until you are a father or 
mother yourself, — that you ought always to love her, to obey 
her, and to be as good to her as you can. No boy or girl can 
ever be too good to his or her mother, nor too ready to help or 
to serve her. When she grows old and you grow up, you must 
always remember that it is your turn now to take care of her, 
and thus repay her a little, for all she has done for you. 

Whenever we see a boy or girl loving and obedient, trying 
to help his or her mother and to please her, we know that she is 
a proud and happy mother, and we feel sure that her child will 
turn into a good man or woman. 

When we see a boy rude to his mother, or disobedient, we 
think: "Either you have no idea of what your mother suffered 
for you, and of all she did for you, or you are a little brute!" 

When a girl lets her mother do all the work, and thinks of 
nothing but her own comfort or pleasure, we think: "If you 



Why You Should Love Your Mother 269 

i 




Try to Please Mother Always 



know how your mother cared for you, before you came into the 
world, and while you were a wee baby, you are an ungrateful 
little wretch if you do not help her now, for you should be only 
too glad to be able to do something for her in your turn." 



270 Yourself 

Why You Should Love Your Father 



We have talked a great deal about your mother until now, 
but remember that your father has a share in you too. Because 
he gave you life, because he took care of you and of mother all 
the time you were growing, because he gave you the clothes 

you wear, and the food 
you eat, because he 
helped take care of you 
while you were helpless, 
and gives you a home, 
you ought to love him 
very dearly and obey 
him just as well as 
mother. 

Remember that good 
fathers and mothers are 
watching their children all the time. If you grow up to be the 
kind of man or woman of whom they can be proud, they will be 
so happy! But if you bring shame upon them, if you are idle 
or disobedient, you will make them very, very unhappy. Just 
think how glad you will feel if they can say every year: "I am 
so glad you were born, you have always been such a blessing 
to your father and mother!" But just imagine too how badly 
you would feel, if you knew that they wished you had never 
been born! Good husbands and fathers, and all real gentle- 




EBHBB 1 1 1 i ! ' 



Father Wants to Feel Proud of You 



About Sex 271 

men are always very kind to their wives and children, for they 
know how easily they can be hurt for life, and no man or boy 
who knows how tender a woman's body is, or what harm a 
blow can do her, ever dreams of laying a rough hand upon her. 
Indeed any one who will strike a woman is rightly considered 
a great brute. 

When older people see a woman walking heavily or look- 
ing rather large, they think: "This may be a woman whom 
God is honoring. Perhaps He is entrusting to her the care of 
an immortal soul." Then they feel they cannot do too much 
for her; so, wherever she goes, she is sure to find good men 
and women ready to help her, and to give her a seat in a car or 
on a boat. They show her all respect for the sake of their 
own dear mothers, who, while they were coming into the 
world, needed all the care and tenderness that could be shown 
to them. 

Never be rude therefore, children, or make unkind remarks. 
What you call a "fat woman," may be a woman who gave 
up all her good looks and health for her children's sake, or 
perhaps she may be a woman "with child," as the Bible says, 
in speaking of women whose little babies have not yet been 
born. 

About Sex 

I have explained to you already that as I am telling you all 
about your own body I often have to speak of private things, 



272 Yourself 

things which are not mentioned as a rule. But I expect you 
to show your sense by acting like little men or women, and not 
like silly imps. Nice children will read all I have to tell them 
in this book without giggling, or nudging each other, and they 
certainly will not speak about the sacred parts of this book to 
any one save their mother. 

You may think now that you can speak to any one about it, 
but if you do, you will be very sorry when you grow old 
enough to understand that there are some matters too intimate 
and too sacred to be talked about lightly. 

If you do not want to be very, very sorry, and feel the blush 
of shame rise to your cheek every time you think of what you 
have done, you will keep your mouth very tightly shut now, 
and you will stop your ears, and run away, if any one but 
mother, father or teacher tries to talk about these matters to 
you. Those who do so, are either so ignorant that they do not 
even know that these are strictly private matters, or they 
are so evil-minded that you must have nothing to do with 
them. Now that I have warned you again, I think it is 
safe to go on teaching you what it is right that you should 
know. 

The very first question every one asks when they hear that a 
new baby has come, is: "Is it a boy or a girl?" You see, it is 
God only who decides who may have babies, and of what sex 
or kind they shall be. There are many, many fathers and 
mothers who would like to have babies, but God does not let 



About Sex 



273 



them. Why that is so, nobody knows, but those who trust and 
love God, believe that He has some very good reason, although 
they do not know it. 

There is another thing which none of us can understand very 
well, that is why God sometimes sends such precious things as 
little babies to bad or care- 
less people. Perhaps it is 
because He thinks that is 
the only way in which to 
make them good once more. 

Even your papa and 
mamma — who knew so 
long beforehand that a 
baby was coming to their 
house— had no idea just 
when you would appear, 
and whether you would be 
a boy or a girl. Baby 
boys and baby girls are 
just alike in everything, ex- 
cept their private parts, and 
it was only when you came 
into this world naked, that 

the very first glance showed them to what sex you belonged, 
God makes babies different, because they are to grow up differ- 
ently into men or into women. 

13 




The Baby Sister 



274 



Yourself 
The Seven Year Periods 



During the first seven years — the years of babyhood as they 
are often called, — boys and girls cut all their first set of teeth, 
grow from soft little babies into sturdy youngsters, and learn ever 
so many things. Doctors often tell us that it takes just about 
seven years for the blood-boats to renew every part of our body 
according to the pattern God gave them. This is why we often 
divide life up into seven year periods. 

During the next seven years — the time of girlhood and of 
boyhood — children grow almost as fast as before, learn a great 




The Seven Year Periods 



deal more, and cut their second teeth. All their body is new 
again, but still they are exactly the same, scars and all, and so is 
the Master of their little house. 



The Seven Year Periods 275 

The next seven years are called the * 'teens" or youth. Dur- 
ing that time boys and girls grow into men and women, and gen- 
erally they finish their school life. 

During their "teens" we see them grow taller and broader, 
more wise and more thoughtful, the boys' voices change, and the 
girls' forms grow rounder, and by these signs all grown people 
know that nature is finishing her work, and little by little turn- 
ing these children into men and women. 

Fathers and mothers always feel a little sorry to see them 
grow so fast, because they know that as children grow older the 
duties of life will rest more and more heavily upon their young 
shoulders. 

During the fourth period of seven years, men and women are 
full grown, and ready to begin to make homes of their own if 
they choose to do so. If they have been wise, and have treated 
their bodies in the right way, they are as straight and strong 
and healthy as they can be. If they have treated their minds 
in the right way too, their brain storehouse is packed with good 
and useful things, and their muscles and nerves are trained to 
work as quickly and neatly as a first-class machine. Such men 
and women can make good homes, and bring up wisely the 
children God gives them. 

By the time fathers and mothers reach the fifth, sixth, and 
seventh period of seven years and begin to feel a little tired, 
their children are generally old enough to wait on them a little, 
to run errands for them, and to save them in many ways. We 



276 Yourself 

are told that men or women are old only when they have 
reached seventy years of age, but many people live to be ninety 
and even one hundred years old if they do not abuse their 
bodies. 



QUESTIONS. — In what are you different from animals? What are the fairy- 
tales told about babies? What does a man promise when he marries? What makes 
a real home? Were you too small to be born at first, and where did mamma keep 
your little body ? Where did your soul come from ? Did mother know you would come 
out of the little room some day, and how did she prepare to welcome you? How 
did mother feed you in the little room? About how long did you stay in mother's 
little room? Why are new born babies red, wrinkled and very tender? When did 
you begin breathing for yourself? How were you fed after you were born? Has 
mother been very good to you? How should you repay your mother for all she has 
done for you? What does a father do for his children? Ought you to love and 
obey him just as well as you love and obey your mother? What kind of a boy or 
girl is a blessing to his or her parents? How do all rightly-minded people consider 
any man or any boy who strikes a woman or a girl ? Who decides into what families 
babies shall go, and whether they shall be boys or girls? How often do the blood- 
boats renew your whole body, what is the first period called, and why? What is 
the second period called, and what teeth do you cut? What are the teens, and what 
change takes place in your house while they last? What can you tell about the 
other seven-year periods, and the length of human lives? 



CHAPTER XVII 

How to Grow Rightly 

JUST look at the picture opposite page 300. Do you see this 
dear little girl thinking only of her flowers, and picking 
more to add to the bunch she holds? Do you see this little 
boy trying to catch a butterfly even on the edge of a deep 
precipice? 
These children know so little about danger, that they have 
wandered to the very edge of this abyss. One step further, and 
they would surely fall over, and be dashed to pieces. But they 
are such very little children, so young and so ignorant, that God 
has sent an angel to watch over them. The angel has his hands 
stretched over them, ready to catch them and hold them back' 
from harm. 

It is nice, is it not, to see that angel so near those happy chil- 
dren and to know that no harm can happen to the dear little 
things, although they are in such a dangerous place! 

As long as you were very little, mother was always there 
to save you from harm, to hold her hand between you and any 
sharp corner of the furniture so that you should not get a bad 
bump or cut, and to guard you night and day. 
277 




278 



Mother Guards You From Harm 



How to Grow Rightly 279 

Now that you are older, mother cannot go with you every- 
where. She cannot warn you every time you come to danger- 
ous places, and cannot snatch you away from harm. But if 
you live in the country, she tells you, for instance, not to go too 
near the pond, where the water is deep, and if you live in the 
city, never to cross the street when a trolley car is coming. Still, 
she knows that the master in your house must look out for you 
now, and be your guardian angel. 

Your teachers also warn you of all kinds of dangers. They 
warn you, for instance, of the danger of telling lies, of being 
dishonest, of growing lazy or selfish, and of many others. 
Now there is another danger which you must all be warned 
against, — that of losing your purity, both of body and mind. 

You know the difference, do you not, between a glass of pure 
water and a glass of dirty water? Which would you rather 
have to drink? There is the same difference — only it is much 
greater, — between pure and impure minds and pure and impure 
bodies. All well-meaning people, long to have and to keep 
their bodies and minds as pure as they can; but, to have them 
pure and keep them pure, they must know just what that means. 

You remember how you learned, in the middle of this book, 
that every thought we think, every word we hear, everything 
we see and learn is stored away in our brain — whether we 
know it or not, — and that it can never be changed or rubbed 
out? 

If you think only nice, pure, noble thoughts, those only will 



280 Yourself 

be stored away in your brain ; but if you think horrid, impure, 
mean thoughts, it will be those which will soon fill up your 
brain storehouse. You must, therefore, be very careful what 
company you keep, what books you read, what you say and 
what you do, for all that makes up what you are. 

Girls and boys who read only about pirates, fights, murders, 
thefts, and adventures of an exciting kind, store away in their 
brain all the mean, ugly and horrible things they read. Now, 
you surely don't want to grow up to be thieves, murderers, or 
other vile wretches, do you? Then why are you storing away 
in your brain all the sayings and doings of such folks? 

If you want to grow up to be a hero or heroine, read about 
all the fine, strong, noble things you can. By and by, when 
the time comes, you will know what the grand people of the 
world did, and little by little, you will build up a character like 
theirs, and perhaps thus learn to do things even greater than 
any they ever did. 

How to Keep Pure 

To keep our souls and minds pure and noble in this way 
is the very best thing we can do, but to do that we must also 
keep our bodies clean and pure. I have explained how to keep 
your sl^in clean, but it is something more than that which I mean 
by bodily purity. 

I am going to try to explain it to you, however hard it may 



How to Keep Pure 



281 



be, so that you can understand it clearly. When bodies are 
beautiful, and strong and healthy, and all that they should be, 
we agreed that instead of merely being called houses, they 
really deserved the grander name of temple. 

When you come to study history, you will hear of the grand- 
est temple the world has ever seen, 
which once stood in Jerusalem. 
This temple was a huge building, 
decorated with marble, and gold, 
and precious stones. It was built 
by God's order, and that temple was 
called His house. 

People who wanted to worship 
God went into this temple, where 
there were many courts and many 
rooms. In some of these rooms 
strangers were allowed to enter, in 
others the worshippers, in others the 
priests and no one else. In the most 
secret and safest part of the temple 
there was a little place, which was 
called the Holy of Holies, which no one was allowed to 
enter. 

This was such a sacred place, that no one could come near it, 
nor was any one allowed to lay as much as a finger on the big 
curtain which cut it off from the rest of the temple. Once a 




The High Priest 



282 Yourself 

year, after he had said many prayers and done many other 
things, the High Priest went into this place by God's order. He 
could enter only then, and only if he had done just as God 
wished. 

As long as this place was kept sacred in this way, the temple 
stood and was fine and beautiful. But there was a war. Some 
soldiers came into the temple. They were wicked men who 
respected nothing. They raised the curtain, and went into the 
Holy of Holies, and — to show how little they cared for the 
people who built it, or for God, — they drove pigs right into 
this sacred place ! 

The Holy of Holies, which had been kept so pure and clean 
until then, was no longer pure and clean, and because God 
wanted this to be forever after a lesson to all the world, He 
allowed that beautiful temple to be destroyed. All the worth 
and the beauty of it was gone, because it was no longer pure 
and sacred. 

Now, as I told you, it rests with us to make temples of our 
bodies if we choose. God has put into each human body a 
sacred little place which is the body Holy of Holies. He wishes 
us to keep it pure, to keep it well hidden (our clothes are the cur- 
tain) , and to guard it against any impure thought or touch . 

In a man's body, this Holy of Holies is the place where the 
life fluid or seed is made; and in the woman's body, it is the lit- 
tle room which God made as a nest for babies. The place 
where the seed is made is in man's private parts, and the door 



How Boys and Girls Become Men and Women 283 

of every woman's little room opens in the same passage as the 
one which empties the waste water. 

As long as we remember that these parts of our body are 
holy, and keep them pure, all is well ; but, if we are careless, if 
we forget, or if we are wicked, we lose our bodily purity, or our 
bodily honor, and our body is no longer a temple. 

How Boys and Girls Become Men and Women 

You know that a boy's voice does not change in a day from 
childish treble to a deep bass, and that a little girl takes some 
time to turn into a young woman. During that time the blood- 
boats are very busy. You see, they have to supply food and air 
enough to all your muscles to keep them going, and they have to 
make your house much bigger and broader in every way. 

They work as hard as they can, but there is so much to do 
that sometimes they cannot supply food, air and materials 
enough. Then boys and girls are apt to feel cross, tired, lazy, 
and languid; they often feel like crying when there is nothing 
really to cry about, and they are generally uncomfortable and 
unhappy. 

If you feel that way while in your "teens," just be patient 
with yourself. Remember that before long your blood-boats 
will manage to do all the work your body needs. Then you 
will grow cheerful and strong again and all will we well. But, 
if you fret, if you pity yourself, if you don't try to control those 



284 Yourself 

feelings as much as you can, you will meantime be storing away 
ever so many fretful, complaining, weak-minded cells in your 
brain storehouse, and then you cannot grow into a hero or hero- 
ine, unless you learn to conquer those bad habits. 

Every boy and girl during his or her teens — when he or she is 
laying the foundations for a strong man or woman — or for a 
weakling — ought to be particularly careful to consult often the 
three greatest doctors the world has ever seen, that is to say 
Dr. Water, Dr. Diet and Dr. Exercise. If their orders are 
closely followed, the result will be good, if not,— -well — no one 
will regret it more than you. 

All during their teens, girls should be particularly careful to 
live wisely and not to wear tight clothes. You already know 
what mischief tight clothes do to many parts of the body at all 
times, but while you are changing into a woman, they can 
cramp that little room, and by hurting it, make all the little 
nerves which connect it with the rest of the body very, very sore 
and sick. 

How to Care for Certain Parts of the Body 

You remember, do you not, how I told you there were many 
nerves in the body? Well, the most delicate ones run from 
your private parts up to your brain, spine, and all the other parts 
of your body. 

If the private parts are always kept very clean, by frequent 



How to Care for Certain Parts of the Body 285 

and careful washings, and always handled gently while doing 
so, no harm will be done to these delicate nerves. But if the 
private parts are not kept clean, if they are roughly handled, or 
if the clothes press too tightly upon them, those nerves will get 
very weak and will make the whole body unhappy. Now you 
understand, do you not, why you must be so careful even of a 
baby, and why you should always prevent your little brothers or 
sisters from touching their private parts. 

It is not all to be careful with very little children. Every 
human being has to be careful about this as long as life lasts. 
The older you grow, the more careful you must be, for if these 
parts are roughly treated, or handled at all when not needful, 
you can lose your health and strength and even your mind. 

That is why your mammas try to train you from the very first 
never to touch this part of your person except when you must, to 
keep it clean, and to be modest at all times, and keep it always 
covered. Any boy or girl who is not careful about this, at all 
times, is not a nice child, and you must avoid all such just as if 
they had the smallpox. 

You have probably heard, time and again in your lives, that 
boys are made of "hobs and nails and puppy dog tails," while 
girls are made of "sugar and spice and all things nice." Of 
course, that is only a nonsense rhyme, for boys and girls are 
really made of exactly the same things. 

But, you are told this, because fathers and mothers want you 
boys to learn as soon as possible to handle girls very gently; and 



286 



Yourself 



as you could not understand the truth when little, you were told 
in a nonsense way. Until ten, a girl often minds hard knocks 
just as little as a boy, but after that, while a boy's body daily 
grows harder, hers grows softer. A touch which he would not 

feel, actually hurts her. 

Besides, there is one part 
of every woman's body 
which is very sensitive, and 
where the least little blow 
often causes great pain. 
This is in the breast. Many 
women feel shy about say- 
ing anything about it, be- 
cause as they know what 
God made the breasts for, 
they feel they are too sacred 
to mention. 

Until God sends milk 
into the breasts to feed new- 
born babies, they are very 
delicate, and I believe that 
many women wear corsets 
mainly because they serve to protect this tender place in their 
bodies. 

Many growing boys have no idea how strong they are getting, 
how long their arms are, and how tough their fingers. They 




Boys Should be Gentle with Girls 



About Kissing 287 

grab at their sisters, just as they used to do when they were little 
girls. The sisters — who are often hurt so badly that they have 
to go away and cry — then scream, and the boys say scornfully, 
"Oh! girls are always squealing!" but the fact is that if any 
one hurt those very boys half as badly, they would surely thrash 
that person! 

The bigger and stronger you get, boys, the gentler you have 
to learn to be to all the women and children, not only in your 
own family, but everywhere else. God gave you all that size 
and strength so that you could protect women and children, but 
remember you must always protect them first against any rough- 
ness or unkindness from yourselves. 

About Kissing 

At school, at church, and in many of the good books you will 
read, you will hear and see over and over that it is the duty of 
every man and woman, and of every boy and girl, not only to 
be as healthy as possible, but to keep their minds and bodies 
pure. You now know exactly what that means, and I trust you 
all mean to take it to heart. 

Of course, you have already found out that all books are not 
good, and that there are some very bad people in this world. 
You know, for instance, that some swear, some lie, some steal, 
some murder, and it is true also, that some do not care at all 
about keeping either their minds or their bodies pure. 



288 Yourself 

As I told you before, all pure-minded people — who look 
upon their bodies as a temple which must be kept holy — feel 
that love, and marriage, and babies, are just as sacred in their 
way as their religion. 

Little children, who do not know any better, often play 
church, pretend to say prayers, and talk about God as if He 
were just like themselves. But older children, who have 
learned that church, prayers and God are sacred subjects, never 
dream of playing at anything of the sort. 

In the same way, little children, and people who have no 
real respect for themselves or for others, can play at love and 
marriage. In little children this is not wrong — for they do not 
know any better and their play means nothing, — but in older 
people, who ought to feel that there is something too sacred 
about it for play, it is often very, very wrong. 

Boys and girls who are in a great hurry to grow up, often 
think they will appear older if they ape the manners of their 
elders. So, the boys put on lover-like airs, and the girls turn 
sentimental and try to flirt. If all this were not so very foolish 
and silly, that all parents know that the really sensible boys 
and girls will soon see it and stop it themselves, they would 
check it right away. 

Many parents do warn their daughters that there is nothing 
they will feel more sorry for when they grow up, than if they 
have allowed a lot of boys to treat them in a lover-like way. 
How would you like to be called by them a * 'pawed over girl" 



About Kissing 289 

for instance? And people will call you that very thing, if you 
allow men and boys to flirt with you, and hug and kiss you. 

After a little girl gets to be ten, and grows into girlhood, she 
ought to feel that she is too old to be treated like a baby. Nice 
girls of that age cannot bear to be kissed or hugged by any one 
except the men and boys in their own family. 

Perhaps, when they were babies, all their father's friends 
got into the habit of kissing and hugging them. Such men often 
do not realize that little girls grow big, although they may re- 
mark how tall they are getting. When they offer to kiss you, 
it is perfectly right and proper for you to say: "Please excuse 
me. I am no longer a baby now, and I would much rather 
shake hands with you, if you don't mind." 

Any gentleman, who is not a dreadful tease, will respect 
even a little girl's wishes in such matters, and even the worst 
tease that ever lived, will stop if you show him plainly that you 
are really in earnest. Any man or boy who tries to kiss you, 
in spite of your telling him you do not wish it, is ungentlemanly, 
and if he kisses you by force, after you have warned him not to 
do so, he deserves to be punished. I would therefore advise 
every girl in the United States, if she cannot run away, to slap 
such a man right in the face, and to slap him hard ! 

Tattle-tales are, as we know, very silly people, but if any 
one bothers you about this, it is right and proper for you to make 
a fuss, and to complain to your father, to your mother, or to 
your brothers. But if, in a game, with many people all around 

19 



290 



Yourself 



you, some one should happen to kiss you, just take it as a matter 
of course, and if you dislike it, all you need do is not to take 
part in such games hereafter. 

Never allow any one outside of your own family to kiss you 
on the mouth. If you do, you are likely to catch any cold or 
disease that person may have, for people are often sick before 
they know it themselves. For that reason, no one should ever 




Don't Kiss Baby on the Lips 

kiss a baby on the lips. Babies do not like it and the people 
who kiss them so, torment them, and are selfish. 

Any girl who shows by all her actions that she always re- 
spects herself, is sure sooner or later to win everybody's respect. 
Of course, you may be called prim, and stiff, and a prude, at 



About Kissing 291 

first, but such names never do a girl any harm at all, while to be 
called a flirt, a coquette, or worse still, fast, is very bad indeed. 
Many good people think that such a girl is either very vulgar 
and badly brought up, or that she has neither a pure soul nor a 
pure body. 

QUESTIONS. — Who must watch over you all your life to see you form good 
habits? Is it right to be truthful, read good books, think nice thoughts, do kind 
deeds? What was the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem, and how was 
it made impure? As each human body is a Temple for the spirit God sent to live 
there, should its Holy of Holies be kept pure and clean? Should you be particu- 
larly careful during your teens of your health and of the cleanliness of certain parts 
of your body ? Are all people good, and do all consider their bodies holy and keep 
them as healthy and pure as they can ? Are love, marriage, and babies sacred to all 
good people? Is it right for girls and boys to play at love? Is it right for girls to 
allow men and boys outside of the family to hug and kiss them? Is it right to kiss 
babies on the lips? 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Your Companions 

MANY of you children have to leave home and school 
very early, and go into stores and shops, where some 
of you will meet rough and bad men and women. 
You will then hear bad language of all kinds, for all 
the wicked people talk very freely. They will, perhaps, even 
try to talk to you about sacred things in a nasty way, and will 
make fun of you for being good. 

Mind all this as little as you can. All boys and girls with 
strong characters, come out of these trials all the better and 
stronger. They are "gold tried in the fire," and if they come 
out pure, it proves that they are really good metal. 

If you are firm and true, if you stick to what you know or feel 
to be right, if you shut your ears and your mind, as much as you 
can, to all the wrong around you, the good people — and there 
are some good ones everywhere — will stand by you and help 
you. 

The only trouble with good people is that many of them 

are often too timid, too afraid of hurting other people's feelings. 

There are, for instance, any number of men, who know that 

men and women should be equally careful of their purity, but 

292 



Your Companions 293 

who are quite satisfied to keep good themselves, and to avoid all 
those who do not think as they do. 

In one way they are right, we should never keep bad com- 
pany; but really brave men never allow any base or low talk 
or doings to go on in their presence. They are always ready 
to stand up for the right, and to use all their strength and influ- 
ence to protect other men, women, and children from 
harm. 

Always believe what such good men tell you, and do not 
listen to any man or boy who says that it makes no difference if 
a young man does "sow wild oats" — or do things which his con- 
science tells him are wrong. Men who talk like that, have 
either never given any serious thought to this matter, or they are 
bad, in spots at least, themselves. 

Girls in their teens cannot be too careful what company they 
frequent, nor can they keep too close to mother. Some foolish 
girls think that if a young man or boy is clean, nicely dressed, 
and well mannered, he must be a gentleman. But it is not 
always so. There are, for instance, many idlers who lounge 
about our streets. They may look like gentlemen, but it is often 
the case that all the dirty looking workmen who pass them are 
much more gentlemanly than they. 

Such idlers often linger around, on purpose to talk to young 
and innocent girls. They flatter them, tease them, get them ex- 
cited, and then go off to repeat what these thoughtless girls have 
said to their evil-minded friends, who twist the most innocent 



294 Yourself 

remarks around into meaning something very different, and far 
worse than you or I can imagine. 

If you think such things cannot be true, just read this verse, 
and see how different the meaning of exactly the same words 
can be, if you change only the punctuation. 

There is a lady in our land 
Who has ten nails on every hand, 
Five and twenty on hands and feet, 
All this is true and no deceit. 

This, as you see, is a very queer and wrong statement. But, 
rightly punctuated, it reads: 

There is a lady in our land 
Who has ten nails, on every hand 
Five, and twenty on hands and feet, 
All this is true and no deceit. 

This is perfectly true and still not a word has been changed. 

Do you see now why girls should be careful? Do you un- 
derstand why it is wiser you should stay at home? Do you see 
why we tell you it is unsafe for you to go out at night, unless 
you must? Now, do you realize how right it is if your parents 
are careful of you, and how ready you should be to help and 
not to hinder them? 

About Books 

If you wish to be a noble woman, don't read many love 
stories. Most of them are as bad for your mind as much candy 
is for your stomach. They may be very sweet and pure, but 



About Books 



295 



you know, even too much of the purest kind of sugar is bad for 
your liver, and too many of the sweetest books are bad for your 
mind. 

Girls who read too 
many love stories in their 
teens, often get dreamy 
and sentimental. They 
think about things in- 
stead of doing things, 
and they wish for what 
they have not, instead of 
making the best of what 
they have. Besides, nov- 
els deal mostly with love 
and marriage, and you 
ought to think as little as 
possible about those sub- 
jects, until you are much 
older. Of course, there 
have been girls who were 
married very, very 
young, but that is not only foolish, but really very wrong. 

Girls in India, even now, often marry at twelve or thirteen, 
but what is the result? Travelers tell us that they have seen 
old, old women, bent and gray, and that when they inquired 
how old these women were, they found out that they were only 




Girls of India 



296 Yourself 

thirty! Why, most women here are still very young at that 
age, and ever so many consider that it is hardly right to marry 
earlier, because they don't feel wise enough yet to bring up 
children. 

The law, which allows people to marry just as soon as it is 
safe for them to do so, says that boys under twenty-one, and 
girls under eighteen, have not the right to marry without the 
consent of their parents. But all sensible young people realize, 
without any law, that they have no right to marry until they 
are full grown, and as a man's bones are never full size until he 
is about twenty-five, most men know it is not wise to marry 
sooner. 

Besides, by that time, young men have generally learned 
what work they can do, how much they can earn, and if they 
are thrifty, they have also set aside part of their earnings, so 
that they can provide good homes for the wives who will be 
willing to share them. 

Every boy or girl who hopes some day to be a good man or 
woman, will be good friends with the other girls and boys he 
or she meets, but will not do any courting or flirting. You can 
really have just as good, or even a better time, without doing 
so, and then you are sure not to have anything to regret. 

About Pictures 

Do you remember what I told you about your eyes, about 
the photographs they take, and about the picture gallery in your 



About Pictures 297 

brain? On all sides you will see many beautiful pictures, in 
your school-books, in your homes, in the shop-windows, and in 
many of the magazines. All the nice and pretty pictures, and 
all the good ones, are fine to store away in your picture gallery. 

But, just as there are good and bad books, there are also 
good and bad pictures. Now, many good people who know 
that purity is the finest thing in the world, think that all pic- 
tures and statues, showing people without clothes on, must be 
very wrong. 

That is not so. Some are wrong and some are not. Long, 
long ago, people were just as good as they are now, and yet 
they did not wear any clothes at all. In fact, they did not need 
any, either to help them keep their bodies pure or to keep them 
warm. In hot countries, even now, few clothes are worn by 
the very young people, and many children never wear any at 
all, yet no one thinks any more of it than we do of seeing our 
baby naked. 

There are also countries where women always keep their 
faces covered, yet do not care one bit if the rest of their body 
is seen. Clothes, you see, are mostly a matter of habit and 
custom. It is the custom here to wear a certain kind of gar- 
ments, so, of course, people follow that custom. 

An artist — who studies a long, long time before he becomes 
really skilled, — soon finds out that there is nothing more diffi- 
cult to paint, to draw, to model, or to carve, than the human 
figure. He finds that it takes more knowledge of art and of 



298 Yourself 

science to paint the leg and foot of the little angel on the oppo- 
site page, — for instance — than to paint all the big angel's dress, 
the clouds and the city beneath them. 

Artists study so long, that they little by little find out all the 
beauty of the human body. Every curve, every dimple, every 
shadow means something to them. 

Artists like to paint the human form, not only because they 
see all its beauty, and because they can best show their skill in 
doing so, but also because people's clothes change so much that 
pictures soon look old-fashioned and ridiculous. 

So that a picture should be really beautiful it must be like 
our idea of what it is meant to represent. If the angel, opposite 
page 299, wore a tailor-made gown and had gloves on, the pic- 
ture would lose nearly all its beauty. The artist might know 
how to paint gowns and gloves so well that they looked real, 
but yet, as they would be out of place there, they would spoil 
the picture. 

If an artist is painting a portrait of a real person, he of course, 
represents that person with the clothes he or she used to wear. 
But, if he paints fancy pictures, he likes to choose subjects 
where he can show his skill, subjects which pleased people 
hundreds of years ago, which please them now, and which 
will please their descendants hundreds of years from now. 

If you look at a beautiful statue or a painting, thinking of the 
body as a temple, and of the skill of the artist, you won't do as 
some silly, ignorant people do, giggle and snicker, or blush and 




A Gift from Heaven 



How to Get More Information 299 

turn away your head simply because the human form is shown 
as God made it. 

If you see a picture of a nude figure (one without clothes) , 
look at it only to see the beauty of it. If the picture is a pure 
picture, and if you are pure yourself, you will like it more, the 
more you look at it, and you will have none but nice, pure 
thoughts about it. 

If you are pure and the picture is not, the very first glance 
will be enough to make you feel a little uncomfortable, and you 
won't want to look at it again. Such pictures are never seen in 
really good books or magazines, or in nice picture stores. They 
are generally shown in places where pure-minded people never 
go, except by mistake, and then they get out again, as soon as 
possible, and never go back. 

How to Get More Information 

As you grow older, if you wish to know more about your- 
self than I could make you understand here, — although I have 
really told you all there is to tell, — get the books and maga- 
zines published by the Purity Society, or by any of your church 
societies. They will tell you nothing but what is right for you 
to know. 

There are many other books on these subjects, but most of 
them are written by men who do not know what they are talk- 
ing about, and who are trying only to make an easy living. 



300 Yourself 

They are — like many of the doctors who advertise in the news- 
papers — trying to catch fools, so as to make a great deal of 
money, without thinking of the real harm they may do. 

With the exception of the Dwarfs, and of some of the anec- 
dotes, all that has been told you in this book is strictly true, and 
boys and girls who have read it all through, have no excuse if 
they do not take proper care of the wonderful little house God 
has given them. 

If you love your parents, your country, and your God, you 
will try very hard to become good and healthy men and wo- 
men, and to do your duty as such, at all times, and wherever 
you may be. 

Show also that children can be trusted — as well as grown 
people — by never saying one word about "Nature's secret," or 
about any of the private parts of this book, to any one except 
your teacher during a lesson on this subject, or your father or 
mother when you are alone with them. 

If your younger brothers and sisters ask you questions about 
these things, do not try to answer them yourself, bid them ask 
mother. If any of your friends wish, or need to know all that 
you have learned here, ask their mother's permission to lend 
them this book. Do not attempt to explain any part of it to any 
one else, for, you know, you might get the meaning as twisted 
as the rhyme I quoted to you a little while ago. 

As the greatest blessings one can enjoy are a "sound mind in 
a sound body," do all you can to cultivate your body, mind and 




The Guardian Angel 



How to Get More Information 301 

soul, and then you will be what God wishes you to be, and 
when you appear before Him, He will be able to say to you : 
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 

QUESTIONS. — Do good men encourage boys to be pure? If you tried to 
talk about Nature's secret to anybody except your father, mother or teacher, would 
you be likely to make mistakes? Why should not girls read too many love stories? 
Is it wise to spend all your time dreaming and wishing? Why is it silly for boys and 
girls to pretend to be lovers? Where do girls marry very young, and what is the 
result? Are there pure nude pictures, and what should you do if a picture is not 
nice? How are you going to prove you can be trusted with "Nature's Secret," even 
if you are still far from grown up? 



MAY U 1913 



%2&St 




